r 
 

 
THE 
 
 PIONEERS; 
 
 OR, 
 
 THE SOURCES OF THE SUSQUEHAMA 
 
 31 
 
 BY J. FENIMORE COOPER 
 
 Extremes of habits, manners, time, and spaco, 
 Brought close together, iiere stood face to face, 
 And gave at once a contrast to the view, 
 That other lands and ages never knew. Pauldlnp. 
 
 COMPLETE IN ONE VOLUME. 
 
 NEW EDITION. 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 S1RINGER AND T W N S E JST D 
 
 1856. 
 
cut 
 
 PIONEERS. 
 
 Southern District of New-York, ss. 
 
 BE it remembered, that on the seventeenth day of October, in the forty, 
 seventh year of the Independence of the United States of America, Charle* 
 Wiley, of the said district, hath deposited in this office the title of a book, the 
 right whereof he claims as proprietor, in the words following, to wit : 
 
 " The Pioneers, or the Sources of the Susquehanna ; a Descriptive Tale. 
 By the Author of Precaution. 
 
 Extremes of habits, manners, time, and space, 
 Brought close together, here stood face to face, 
 And gave at once a contrast to the view, 
 That other lands and ages never knew. Pauldinff." 
 
 In conformity to the Act of Congress of the United States, entitled, " An Act 
 for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts, and 
 books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies, during the time therein 
 mentioned ;" and also to an Act, entitled, " An Act, supplementary to an Act, 
 entitled, An Act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of 
 maps, charts, and books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies, during 
 the times therein mentioned, and extending the benefits, thereof to the arts ot 
 designing, engraving, and etching historical "^ Jjf^ gg;^ 
 
 Clerk of the Southern District of N0v - 
 

 
 TO 
 
 JACOB SUTHERLAND, 
 
 OF BLENHEIM, SCHOHARIE, 
 
 ESQUIRE. 
 
 THE length of our friendship would be a swffi* 
 cient reason for prefixing your name to these 
 pages ; but your residence so near the scene of the 
 tale, and your familiarity with much of the charac 
 ter and kind of life that I have attempted to de 
 scribe, render it more peculiarly proper. You, at 
 least, dear Sutherland, will not receive this dedi 
 cation as a cold compliment, but as an evidence 
 of the feeling that makes me, 
 
 Warmly and truly, 
 Your friend, 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 TO MR. CHARLES WILEY, BOOKSELLER. 
 
 EVERY man is, more or less, the sport of acci 
 dent ; nor do I know that authors are at all ex 
 empted from this humiliating influence. This is 
 the third of my novels, and it depends on two ve 
 ry uncertain contingencies, whether it will not he 
 the last : the one being the public opinion, and 
 the other mine own hamour. The first book was 
 written, oecause I was told that I could not write 
 a grave tale ; so, to prove that the world did not 
 know me, I wrote one that was so grave nobody 
 would read it ; wherein I think that I had much 
 the best of the argument. The second was writ 
 ten to see if I could not overcome this neglect of 
 the reading world. How far I have succeeded, 
 Mr. CHARLES WILEY, must ever remain a secret 
 between ourselves. The third has been written, 
 exclusively, to please myself: so it would be no 
 
 wonder if it displeased every body else ; for what 
 1* 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 two ever thought alike, on a subject of the imagina 
 tion ? 
 
 I should think criticism to be the perfection of 
 human acquirements, did there not exist this dis 
 crepancy in taste. Just as I have made up my 
 mind to adopt the very sagacious hints of one learn 
 ed Reviewer, a pamphlet is put into my hands, 
 containing the remarks of another, who condemns 
 all that his rival praises, and praises all that his ri 
 val condemns. There I am, left like an ass be- 
 *ween two locks of hay ; so that I have deter 
 mined to relinquish my animate nature, and remain 
 stationary, like a lock of hay between tw T o asses. 
 
 It is now a long time, say the wise ones, since 
 the world has been told all that is new and novel. 
 But the Reviewers (the cunning wights!) have 
 adopted an ingenious expedient, to give a freshness 
 to the most trite idea. They clothe it in a lan 
 guage so obscure and metaphysical, that the reader 
 is not about to comprehend their pages without 
 some labour. This is called a great " range of 
 thought ;" and not improperly, as I can testify ; 
 for, in my own case, I have frequently ranged the 
 universe of ideas, and come back again in as per 
 fect ignorance of their meaning as when I set out. 
 It is delightful, to see the literati of a circulating 
 library get hold of one of these difficult periods ! 
 Their praise of the performance is exactly com 
 mensurate with its obscurity. Every body knows, 
 that to seem wise is the first requisite in a great 
 man. 
 
PREFACE. 7 
 
 A common word in the mouths of all Review 
 ers, readers of magazines, and young ladies, when 
 speaking of novels, is u keeping ;" and yet there 
 are but few who attach the same meaning to it. 
 I belong, myself, to the old school, in this particu 
 lar, and think that it applies more to the subject 
 in hand, than to any use of terms, or of cant expres 
 sions. As a man might just as well be out of the 
 world as out of " keeping," I have endeavoured to 
 confine myself, in this tale, strictly to its observ 
 ance. This is a formidable curb to the imagina 
 tion, as, doubtless, the reader will very soon dis 
 cover ; but under its influence I have come to the 
 conclusion, that the writer of a tale, who takes the 
 earth for the scene of his story, is in some degree 
 bound to respect human nature. Therefore I 
 would advise any one, who may take up this book, 
 with the expectation of meeting gods and goddess 
 es, spooks or witches, or of feeling that strong ex 
 citement that is produced by battles and murders, 
 to throw it aside at once, for no such interest will 
 be found in any of its pages. 
 
 I have already said that it was mine own humour 
 that suggested this tale ; but it is a humour that is 
 deeply connected with feeling. Happier periods, 
 more interesting events, and possibly, more beau 
 teous scenes, might have been selected, to exem 
 plify my subject ; but none of either that would be 
 so jear to me. I wish, therefore, to be judged 
 more by what I have done, than by my sins of 
 omission. I have introduced one battle, but it is 
 
8 PREFACE. 
 
 not of the most Homeric kind. As for murders, 
 the population of a new country will not admit of 
 such a waste of human life. There might possibly 
 have been one or two hangings, to the manifest ad 
 vantage of the " settlement ;" but then it would 
 have been out of " keeping" with the humane laws 
 of this compassionate country. 
 
 The " Pioneers" is now before the world, Mr. 
 WILEY, and I shall look to you for the only true 
 account of its reception. The critics may write as 
 obscurely as they please, and look much wiser than 
 they are ; the papers may puff or abuse, as theii 
 changeful humours dictate ; but if you meet me 
 with a smiling face, I shall at once know that all 
 is essentially well. 
 
 If you should ever have occasion for a preface, I 
 beg you will let me hear from you in reply. 
 
 Yours, truly, 
 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 New-York^ January 1st, 1823. 
 
THE PIONEER, 
 
 SOURCES OF THE SUSQUEHANNA, 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 See, Winter comes, to rule the varied year, 
 Sullen and sad, with all his rising train ; 
 Vapours, and clouds, and storms 
 
 Thomson. 
 
 NEAR the centre of the great State of New- York 
 lies an extensive district of country, whose surface 
 is a succession of hills and dales, or, to speak with 
 greater deference to geographical definitions, of 
 mountains and valleys. It is among these hills that 
 the Delaware takes its rise ; and flowing from the 
 limpid lakes and thousand springs of this country, 
 the numerous sources of the mighty Susquehanna 
 meander through the valleys, until, uniting, they 
 form one of the proudest streams of which the old 
 United States could boast. The mountains are 
 generally arable to the top, although instances are 
 not wanting, where their sides are jutted with 
 rocks, that aid greatly in giving that romantic cha 
 racter to the country, which it so eminently pos 
 sesses. The vales are narrow, rich, and cultivated ; 
 with a stream uniformly winding through each, 
 
10 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 now gliding peacefully under the brow of one of 
 the hills, and then suddenly shooting across the 
 plain, to wash Jfre feet of its opposite rival. Beau 
 tiful and thriving villages are found interspersed 
 along the margins of the small lakes, or situated at 
 those points of the streams which are favourable to 
 manufacturing; and neat and comfortable farms, 
 with every indication of wealth about them, are 
 scattered profusely through the vales, and even to 
 the mountain tops. Roads diverge in every direc 
 tion, from the even and graceful bottoms of the 
 valleys, to the most rugged and intricate passes of 
 the hills. Academies, and minor edifices for the 
 encouragement of learning, meet the eye of the 
 stranger, at every few miles, as he winds his way 
 through this uneven territory ; and places for the 
 public worship of God abound with that frequency 
 which characterizes a moral and reflecting people, 
 and with that variety of exterior and canonical go 
 vernment which flows from unfettered liberty of 
 conscience. In short, the whole district is hourly 
 exhibiting how much can be done, in even a rug 
 ged country, and with a severe climate, under the 
 dominion of mild laws, and where every man feels 
 a direct interest in the prosperity of a common- 
 Wealth, of which he knows himself to form a dis 
 tinct and independent part. The expedients of 
 the pioneers who first broke ground in the settle 
 ment of this country, are succeeded by the perma 
 nent improvements of the yeoman, who intends to 
 leave his remains to moulder under the sod which 
 he tills, or, perhaps, of the son, who, born in the 
 land, piously wishes to linger around the grave of 
 liis father. Only forty years have passed since 
 this whole territory was a wilderness. 
 
 Very soon after the establishment of the inde 
 pendence of the States by the peace of 1783, the 
 
THE PIONEERS. 11 
 
 enterprise of their citizens was directed to a deve- 
 lopement of the natural advantages of their widely 
 extended dominions. Before the war of the revolu 
 tion the inhabited parts of the colony of New- York 
 were limited to less than a tenth of her possessions, 
 A narrow belt of country, extending for a short 
 distance on either side of the Hudson, with a simi 
 lar occupation of fifty miles on the banks of the 
 Mohawk, together with the islands of Nassau and 
 Staten, and a few insulated settlements on chosen 
 land along the margins of streams, composed the 
 country that was then inhabited by less than two 
 hundred thousand souls. Within the short period 
 we have mentioned, her population has spread itself 
 over five degrees of latitude and seven of longi 
 tude, and has swelled to the powerful number of 
 nearly a million and a half, who are maintained in 
 abundance, and can look forward to ages before the 
 evil day must arrive, when their possessions will 
 become unequal to their wants. 
 
 Our tale begins in 1793, about seven years after 
 the commencement of one of the earliest of those 
 settlements, which have conduced to effect that 
 magical change in the power and condition of the 
 state, to \vhich we have alluded. 
 
 It w r as near the setting of the sun, on a clear, 
 cold day in December of that year, when a sleigh 
 was moving slowly up one of the mountains in the 
 district which we have described. The day had 
 been fine for the season, and but two or three large 
 clouds, whose colour seemed brightened by the 
 light reflected from the mass of snow that cove-red 
 the earth, floated in a sky of the purest blue. The 
 road wound along the brow of a precipice, and on 
 one side was upheld by a foundation of logs, piled 
 for many feet, one upon the other, while a narrow 
 excavation in the mountain, in the opposite direc- 
 
THE PIONEERS. 
 
 tion, had made a passage of sufficient width for the 
 ordinary travelling of that day. But logs, exca 
 vation, and every thing that did not reach for se 
 veral feet above the earth, lay promiscuously bu 
 ried under the snow. A single track, barely wide 
 enough to receive the sleigh, denoted the route of 
 the highway, and this was sunken near two feet 
 below the surrounding surface. In the vale, which 
 lay at a distance of several hundred feet beneath 
 them, there was what in the language of the coun 
 try was called a clearing, and all the usual im- 
 piovements of a new settlement ; these even ex 
 tended up the hill to the point where the road 
 turned short and ran across the level land, which 
 lay on the summit of the mountain ; but the sum 
 mit itself yet remained a forest. There was a 
 glittering in the atmosphere, as if it were filled 
 with innumerable shining particles, and the noble 
 Day horses that drew the sleigh were covered, in 
 many parts, with a coat of frost. The vapour from 
 their nostrils was seen to issue like smoke ; and 
 every object in the view, as well as every arrange 
 ment of the travellers, denoted the depth of a win 
 ter in the mountains. The harness, which was 
 of a deep dull black, differing from the glossy var 
 nishing of the present day, was ornamented with 
 enormous plates and buckles of brass, that shone 
 like gold in the transient beams of the sun, which 
 found their way obliquely through the tops of the 
 trees. Huge saddles, studded with nails of the 
 same material, and fitted with cloth that admirably 
 served as blankets to the shoulders of the animals, 
 supported four high, square-topped turrets, through 
 which the stout reins led from the mouths of the 
 horses to the hands of the driver, who was a negro, 
 of apparently twenty years of age. His face, which 
 nature had coloured w th a glistening black, was 
 
THE PIONEERS. 13 
 
 now mottled with the cold, and his large shining 
 eyes were moistened with a liquid that flowed 
 from the same cause ; still there was a smiling ex 
 pression of good humour in his happy countenance, 
 that was created by the thoughts of his home, and 
 a Christmas fire-side, with its Christmas frolics. 
 The sleigh was one of those large, comfortable, 
 old-fashioned conveyances, which would admit a 
 whole family within its bosom, but which now con 
 tained only two passengers besides the driver. Its 
 outside was a modest green, and its inside of a fiery 
 red, that was intended to convey the idea of heat 
 in that cold climate. Large buffalo skins, trimmed 
 around the edges with red cloth, cut into festoons, 
 covered the back of the sleigh, and were spread 
 over its bottom, and drawn up around the feet of 
 the travellers one of whom was a man of middle 
 age, and the other a female, just entering upon 
 womanhood. The former was of a large stature ; 
 but the precautions he had taken to guard against 
 the cold left but little of his person exposed to 
 view. A great-coat, that was abundantly orna 
 mented, if it were not made more comfortable, by 
 a profusion of furs, enveloped the whole of his 
 figure, excepting the head, which was covered with 
 a cap of martin skins, lined with morocco, the sides 
 of which were made to fall, if necessary, and were 
 now drawn close over the ears, and were fastened 
 beneath his chin with a black riband ; its top was 
 surmounted with the tail of the animal whose skin 
 had furnished the materials for the cap, which fell 
 back, not ungracefully, a few inches behind the 
 head. From beneath this masque were to be seen 
 part of a fine manly face, and particularly a pair of 
 expressive, large blue eyes, that promised extraor 
 dinary intellect, covert humour, and great bene 
 volence. The form of his companion was literal 
 
14 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 1y hid beneath the multitude and variety of gar 
 ments which she wore. There were furs and silks 
 peeping from under a large camlet cloak, with a 
 thick flannel lining, that, by its cut and size, was 
 evidently intended for a masculine wearer. A huge 
 hood of black silk, that was quilted with down, 
 concealed the whole of her head, except at a small 
 opening in front for breath, through which occa 
 sionally sparkled a pair of animated eyes of the 
 deepest black. 
 
 Both the father and daughter (for such was the 
 connexion between the travellers) were too much 
 occupied with their different reflections to break 
 the stillness, that received little or no interruption 
 from the easy gliding of the sleigh, by the sound 
 of their voices. The former was thinking of the 
 wife that had held this their only child fondly to 
 her bosom, when, four years before, she had re 
 luctantly consented to relinquish the society of her 
 daughter, in order that the latter might enjoy th^ 
 advantages which the city could afford to her edu 
 cation. A few months afterward death had de 
 prived him of the remaining companion of his soli 
 tude ; but still he had enough of real regard for his 
 child, not to bring her into the comparative wilder 
 ness in which he dwelt, until the full period had 
 expired, to which he had limited her juvenile la 
 bours. The reflections of the daughter were less 
 melancholy, and mingled with a pleased astonish 
 ment at the novel scenery that she met at every 
 turn in the road. 
 
 The mountain on which they were journeying 
 was covered with pines, that rose without a branch 
 seventy or eighty feet, and which frequently tow 
 ered to an additional height, that more than eqiral- 
 led that elevation. Through the innumerable vis 
 tas that opened beneath the lofty trees the eye 
 
THE FIONEERS 15 
 
 could penetrate, until it was met by a distant ine 
 quality in the ground, or was stopped by a view of 
 the summit of the mountain which lay on the op 
 posite side of the valley to W 7 hich they were has 
 tening. The dark trunks of the trees rose from the 
 pure white of the snow, in regularly formed shafts, 
 until, at a great height, their branches shot forth 
 their horizontal limbs, that were covered with the 
 meager foliage of an evergreen, affording a melan 
 choly contrast to the torpor of nature below T . To 
 the travellers there seemed to be no wind ; but 
 these pines waved majestically at their topmost 
 boughs, sending forth a dull, sighing sound, that 
 was quite in consonance with the scene. 
 
 The sleigh had glided for some distance along 
 the even surface, and the gaze of the female was 
 bent in inquisitive, and, perhaps, timid glances, in 
 to the recesses of the forest, which were lighted 
 by the unsullied covering of the earth, when a loud 
 and continued howling was heard, pealing under 
 the long arches of the woods, like the cry of a nu 
 merous pack of hounds. The instant the sounds 
 reached the ears of the gentleman, whatever might 
 aave been the subject of his meditations, he forgot 
 it ; for he cried aloud to the black 
 
 " Hold up, Aggy ; there is old Hector ; I should 
 know his bay among ten thousand. The Leather- 
 stocking has put his hounds into the hills this clear 
 day, and they have started their game, you hear. 
 There is a deer-track a few rods ahead ; and now, 
 Bess, if thou canst muster courage enough to stand 
 fire, I will give thee a saddle for thy Christmas 
 dinner." 
 
 The black drew up, with a cheerful grin upon 
 his chilled features, and began thrashing his arms 
 together, in order to restore the circulation to his 
 fingers, while the speaker stood erect, and, throw- 
 
16 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 ing aside his outer covering, stept from the sleigh 
 upon a bank of snow, which sustained his weight 
 without yielding more than an inch or two. A 
 storm of sleet had fallen and frozen upon the sur 
 face a few days before, and but a slight snow had 
 occurred since to purify, without weakening its co 
 vering. 
 
 In a few moments the speaker succeeded in ex 
 tricating a double-barrelled fowling-piece from 
 among a multitude of trunks and bandboxes. Af 
 ter throwing aside the thick mittens which had en 
 cased his hands, that now appeared in a pair of 
 leather gloves tipped with fur, he examined his 
 priming, and was about to move forward, when the 
 light bounding noise of an animal plunging through 
 the Woods was heard, and directly a fine buck 
 darted into the path, a short distance ahead of him. 
 The appearance of the animal was sudden, and his 
 flight inconceivably rapid ; but the traveller ap 
 peared to be too keen a sportsman to be discon 
 certed by either. As it came first into view he 
 raised the fowling-piece to his shoulder, and, with 
 a practised eye and steady hand, drew a trigger ; 
 but the deer dashed forward undaunted, and ap 
 parently unhurt. Without lowering his piece, the 
 traveller turned its muzzle towards his intended 
 victim, and fired again. Neither discharge, how 
 ever, seemed to have taken effect. 
 
 The whole scene had passed with a rapidity that 
 confused the female, who was unconsciously rejoic 
 ing in the escape of the buck, as he rather darted 
 like a meteor, than ran across the road before her, 
 when a sharp, quick sound struck her ear, quite 
 different from the full, round reports of her father s 
 gun, but still sufficiently distinct to be known as 
 the concussion produced by fire-arms. At the same 
 instant that she heard this unexpected report, the 
 
THE PIONEERS. 17 
 
 buck sprang from the snow, to a great height in the 
 air, and directly a second discharge, similar in 
 sound to the first, followed, when the animal came 
 to the earth, falling headlong, and rolling over on 
 the crust once or twice with its own velocity. A 
 . loud shout was given by the unseen marksman, as 
 triumphing in his better aim ; and a couple of men 
 instantly appeared from behind the trunks of two 
 of the pines, where they had evidently placed 
 themselves in expectation of the passage of the 
 deer. 
 
 " Ha ! Natty, had I known you were in ambush, 
 I would not have fired," cried the traveller, mov 
 ing towards the spot where the deer lay near to 
 which he was followed by the delighted black, 
 with the sleigh ; " but the sound of old Hector 
 was too exhilarating to let me be quiet ; though 
 I hardly think I struck him either." 
 
 " No no Judge," returned the hunter, with 
 an inward chuckle, and with that look of exulta 
 tion, that indicates a consciousness of superior 
 skill ; " you burnt your powder, only to warm 
 your nose this cold evening. Did ye think to stop 
 a full grown buck, with Hector and the slut open 
 upon him, within sound, with that robin pop-gun 
 in your hand ? There s plenty of pheasants among 
 the swamps ; and the snow birds are flying round 
 your own door, where you may feed them with 
 crumbs, and shoot enough for a pot-pie, any day ; 
 but if you re for a buck, or a little bear s meat, 
 Judge, you ll have to take the long rifle, with a 
 greased wadding, or you ll waste more powder 
 than you ll fill stomachs, I m thinking." 
 
 As the speaker concluded, he drew his bare 
 hand across the bottom of his nose, and again 
 opened his enormous mouth with a kind of inward 
 laugh. 
 
18 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 " The gun scatters well, Natty, and has killed a 
 deer before now," said the traveller, smiling good 
 humouredly. " One barrel was charged with buck 
 shot ; but the other was loaded for birds only 
 Here are two hurts that he has received ; one 
 through his neck, and the other directly through 
 his heart. It is by no means certain, Natty, but I 
 gave him one of the two." 
 
 " Let who will kill him," said the hunter, rather 
 surlily, " I suppose the cretur is to be eaten." So 
 saying, he drew a large knife from a leathern sheath, 
 which was stuck through his girdle or sash, and 
 cut the throat of the animal. " If there is two 
 balls through the deer, I want to know if there 
 wasn t two rifles fired besides, who ever saw such 
 a ragged hole from a smooth-bore, as this is through 
 the neck ? and you will own yourself, Judge, that 
 the buck fell at the last shot, which was sent from 
 a truer and a younger hand, than your n or mine 
 ither ; but for my part, although I am a poor man, 
 I can live without the venison, but I don t love to 
 give up my lawful dues in a free country. Though, 
 for the matter of that, might often makes right 
 here, as well as in the old country, for what I can 
 see." 
 
 An air of sullen dissatisfaction pervaded the 
 manner of the hunter during the whole of this 
 speech; yet he thought it prudent to utter the 
 close of the sentence in such an under tone, as to 
 leave nothing audible but the grumbling sounds of 
 his voice. 
 
 " Nay, Natty," rejoined the traveller, with un 
 disturbed good humour, " it is for the honour that 
 I contend. A few dollars will pay for the veni 
 son ; but what will requite me for the lost honour 
 of a buck s tail in my cap ? Think, Natty, how I 
 should triumph over that quizzing dog, Dick Jones, 
 
THE PIONEERS. 
 
 who has failed seven times this season already, and 
 has only brought in one wood-chuck and a few 
 gray squirrels." 
 
 " Ah ! the game is becoming hard to find, in 
 deed, Judge, with your clearings and betterments," 
 said the old hunter, with a kind of disdainful re 
 signation. " The time has been, when I have shot 
 thirteen deer, without counting the fa ns, standing 
 in the door of my own hut ! and for bear s meat, 
 if one wanted a ham or so from the cretur, he had 
 only to watch a-nights, and he could shoot one by 
 moonlight, through the cracks of the logs ; no fear 
 of his over-sleeping himself, n ither, for the howl 
 ing of the wolves was sartin to keep his eyes open. 
 There s old Hector," patting with affection a tall 
 hound, of black and yellow spots, with white bel 
 ly and legs, that just then came in on the scent, ac 
 companied by the slut he had mentioned ; " see 
 where the wolves bit his throat, the night I druve 
 them from the venison I was smoking on the chiin- 
 bly top that dog is more to be trusted nor many 
 a Christian man ; for he never forgets a friend, and 
 loves the hand that gives him bread." 
 
 There was a peculiarity in the manner of the 
 hunter, that struck the notice of the young female, 
 who had been a close and interested observer of 
 his appearance and equipments, from the moment 
 he first came into view. He was tall, and so mea 
 gre as to make him seem above even the six feet 
 that he actually stood in his stockings. On his 
 head, which was thinly covered with lank, sandy 
 hair, he wore a cap made of fox-skin, resembling 
 in shape the one we have already described, al 
 though much inferior in finish and crnaments. His 
 face was skinny, and thin almost to emaciation ; 
 but yet bore no signs of disease ; on the contrary, 
 it had every indication of the most robust and en- 
 
20 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 during health. The cold and the exposure 
 together, given it a colour of uniform red ; his gray 
 eyes were glancing under a pair of shaggy brows, 
 that overhung them in long hairs of gray mingled 
 with their natural hue ; his scraggy neck was bare, 
 and burnt to the same tint with his face ; though 
 a small part of a shirt collar, made of the country 
 check, was to be seen above the over-dress he 
 wore. A kind of coat, made of dressed deer-skin, 
 with the hair on, was belted close to his lank body, 
 by a girdle of coloured worsted. On his feet were 
 deer-skin moccasins, ornamented with porcupines 
 quills, after the manner of the Indians, and his limbs 
 were guarded with long leggings of the same ma 
 terial as the moccasins, which, gartering over the 
 knees of his tarnished buck-skin breeches, had ob 
 tained for him, among the settlers, the nick-name 
 of Leather-stocking, notwithstanding his legs were 
 protected beneath, in winter, by thick garments of 
 woollen, duly made of good blue yarn. Over his 
 left shoulder was slung a belt of deer-skin, from 
 which depended an enormous ox horn, so thinly 
 scraped, as to discover the dark powder that it con 
 tained. The larger end was fitted ingeniously and 
 securely with a wooden bottom, and the other was 
 stopped tight by a little plug. A leathern pouch 
 hung before him, from which, as he concluded his 
 last speech, he took a small measure, and, filling it 
 accurately with powder, he commenced reloading 
 the rifle, which, as its butt rested on the snow be 
 fore him, reached nearly to the top of his fox-skin 
 cap. 
 
 The traveller had been closely examining the 
 wounds during these movements, and now, with 
 out heeding the ill-humour of the hunter s man 
 ner, exclaimed 
 
 " I would fain establish a right, Natty, to the 
 
THE PIONEERS. 21 
 
 honour of this capture ; and surely if the hit in the 
 neck be mine, it is enough ; for the shot in the 
 heart was unnecessary what we call an act of su 
 pererogation, Leather-stocking." 
 
 " You may call it by what lamed name you 
 please, Judge," said the hunter, throwing his rifle 
 across his left arm, and knocking up a brass lid 
 in the breech, from which he took a small piece of 
 greased leather, and wrapping a ball in it, forced 
 them down by main strength on the powder, where 
 he continued to pound them while speaking. " It s 
 far easier to call names, than to shoot a buck on 
 the spring ; but the cretur come by his end from 
 a younger hand than ither your n or mine, as I 
 said before." 
 
 " What say you, my friend," cried the traveller, 
 turm ng pleasantly to Natty s companion; " shall 
 we toss up this dollar for the honour, and you keep 
 the silver if you lose ; what say you, friend ?" 
 
 " That I killed the deer," answered the young 
 man, with a little haughtiness, as he leaned on 
 another long rifle, similar to that of Natty s. 
 
 " Here are two to one, indeed," replied the 
 Judge, with a smile ; " I am outvoted overruled, 
 as we say on the bench. There is Aggy, he can t 
 vote, being a slave ; and Bess is a minor so I 
 must even make the best of it. But you ll sell 
 me the venison ; and the deuce is in it, but I make 
 a good story about its death." 
 
 " The meat is none of mine to sell," said Lea 
 ther-stocking, adopting a little of his companion s 
 hauteur ; " for my part, I have known animals 
 travel days with shots in the neck, and I m none 
 of them who ll rob a man of his rightful dues." 
 
 " You are tenacious of your rights, this cold eve 
 ning, Natty," returned the Judge, with unconquer- 
 
ZZ THE PIONEERS. 
 
 able good nature ; " but what say you, young 
 man, will three dollars pay you for the buck ?" 
 
 " First let us determine the question of right to 
 the satisfaction of us both," said the youth, firmly 
 but respectfully, and with a pronunciation and lan 
 guage vastly superior ,to his appearance ; " with 
 how many shot did you load your gun ?" 
 
 " With five, sir," said the Judge, gravely, a lit 
 tle struck with the other s manner ; " are they not 
 enough to slay a buck like this ?" 
 
 " One would do it ; but," moving to the tree 
 from behind which he had appeared, "you know, 
 sir, you fired in this direction here are four of 
 the bullets in the tree." 
 
 The Judge examined the fresh marks in the 
 rough bark of the pine, and shaking his head, said 
 with a laugh m 
 
 " You are making out the case against yourself, 
 my young advocate where is the fifth ?" 
 
 " Here," said the youth, throwing aside the rough 
 over-coat that he wore, and exhibiting a hole in 
 his under garment, through which large drops of 
 blood were oozing. 
 
 " Good God !" exclaimed the Judge, with hor 
 ror ; " have I been trifling here about an empty 
 distinction, and a fellow-creature suffering from my 
 hands without a murmur ? But hasten quick 
 get into my sleigh it is but a mile to the village, 
 where surgical aid can be obtained ; all shall be 
 done at my expense, and thou shalt live with me 
 until thy wound is healed ay, and for ever after 
 wards, too." 
 
 " I thank you, sir, for your good intention, but 
 must decline your offer. I have a friend who 
 would be uneasy were he to hear that I am hurt 
 and away from him. The injury is but slight, and 
 
THE PIONEERS. 23 
 
 the bullet has missed the hones ; but I believe, sir, 
 you will now admit my title to the venison." 
 
 " Admit it !" repeated the agitated Judge ; " I 
 here give thee a right to shoot deer, or bears, or 
 any thing thou pleasest in my woods, for ever. 
 Leather-stocking is the only other man that I have 
 granted the same privilege to ; and the time is 
 coming when it will be of value. But I buy your 
 deer here, this bill will pay thee, both for thy 
 shot and my own." 
 
 The old hunter gathered his tall person up into 
 an air of pride, during this dialogue, and now mut 
 tered in an undej tone 
 
 " There s them living who say, that Nathaniel 
 Bumppo s right to shoot in these hills, is of older 
 date than Marmaduke Temple s right to forbid him. 
 But if there s a law about it at all, though who 
 ever heard tell of a law that a man should nt kill 
 deer where he pleased ! but if there is a law at 
 all, it should be to keep people from the use of 
 them smooth-bores. A body never knows where 
 his lead will fly, when he pulls the trigger of one 
 of them fancified fire-arms." 
 
 Without attending to the soliloquy of Natty, the 
 youth bowed his head silently to the offer of the 
 bank note, and replied 
 
 " Excuse me, sir, I have need of the venison." 
 
 " But this will buy you many deer," said the 
 Judge ; " take it, I entreat you," and lowering his 
 voice to nearly a whisper, he added " it is for a 
 hundred dollars." 
 
 For an instant only, the youth seemed to hesi 
 tate, and then, blushing even through the high co 
 lour that the cold had given to his cheeks, as if 
 with inward shame at his own weakness, he again 
 proudly declined the offer. 
 
 During this scene the female arose, and, regard- 
 
24 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 less of the cold air, she threw back the hood which 
 concealed her features, and now spoke, with great 
 earnestness 
 
 " Surely, surely, young man sir you would 
 not pain my father so much, as to have him think 
 that he leaves a fellow-creature in this wilderness, 
 whom his own hand has injured. I entreat you 
 will go with us and receive medical aid for your 
 hurts." 
 
 Whether his wound became more painful, or, 
 there was something irresistible in the voice and 
 manner of the fair pleader for her father s feelings, 
 we know not, but the haughty Distance of the 
 young man s manner was sensibly softened by this 
 appeal, and he stood, in apparent doubt, as if re 
 luctant to comply with, and yet unwilling to refuse 
 her request. The judge, for such being his office, 
 must in future be his title, watched, with no little 
 interest, the display of this singular contention in 
 the feelings of the youth, and advancing, kindly 
 took his hand, and, as he pulled him gently to 
 wards the sleigh, urged him to enter it. 
 
 " There is no human aid nearer than Temple- 
 ton," he said ; " and the hut of Natty is full three 
 miles from this ; come come, my young friend, 
 go with us, and let the new doctor look to this 
 shoulder of thine. Here is Natty will take the 
 tidings of thy welfare to thy friend ; and should st 
 thou require it, thou shalt be returned to thy home 
 in the morning." 
 
 The young man succeeded in extricating his hand 
 from the warm grasp of the judge, but continued to 
 gaze on the face of the female, who, regardless of 
 the cold, was still standing with her fine features 
 exposed, which expressed feelings that eloquently 
 seconded the request of her father. Leather- 
 stocking stood, in the mean time, leaning upon his 
 
THE PIONEERS. 25 
 
 long rifle, with his head turned a little to one side, 
 as if engaged in deep and sagacious musing ; when, 
 having apparently satisfied his doubts, by revolving 
 the subject in his mind, he broke silence 
 
 " It may be best to go, lad, after all ; for if the 
 shot hangs under the skin, my hand is getting too 
 old to be cutting into human flesh, as I once used 
 to. Though some thirty years agone, in the old 
 war, when I was out under Sir William, I travel 
 led seventy miles alone in the howling wilder 
 ness, with a rifle bullet in my thigh, and then cut 
 it out with my own jack-knife. Old Indian John 
 knows the time well. I met him with a party of 
 the Delawares, on the trail of the Iroquois, who 
 had been down and taken five scalps on the Scho- 
 harie. But I made a mark on the red-skin that PH 
 warrant he carried to his grave. I took him on his 
 posteerum, saving the lady s presence, as he got 
 up from the amboosh, and rattled three buck shot 
 into his naked hide, so close, that you might have 
 laid a broad joe upon them all J1 here Natty 
 stretched out his long neck, and straightened his 
 body, as he opened his mouth, which exposed a 
 single tusk of yellow bone, while his eyes, his face, 
 even his whole frame, seemed to laugh, although 
 no sound was emitted, except a kind of thick hiss 
 ing, as he inhaled his breath in quavers. " I had 
 lost my bullet mould in crossing the Oneida outlet, 
 and so had to make shift with the buck shot ; but 
 the rifle was true, and did nt scatter like your two- 
 legged thing there, Judge, which don t do, I find, 
 to hunt in company with." 
 
 Natty s apology to the delicacy of the young lady 
 was unnecessary, for, while he was speaking, she 
 was too much employed in helping her father to 
 remove certain articles of their baggage to hear 
 him. Unable to resist the kind urgency of the 
 3 
 
26 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 travellers any longer, the youth, though still with 
 an unaccountable reluctance expressed in his man 
 ner, suffered himself to be persuaded to enter the 
 sleigh. The black, with the aid of his master, 
 threw the buck across the baggage, and entering 
 the vehicle themselves, the judge invited the hunter 
 to do so likewise. 
 
 " No no " said the old man, shaking his 
 head ; " I have work to do at home this Christmas 
 eve drive on with the boy, and let your doctor 
 look to the shoulder ; though if he will only cut 
 out the shot, I have yarbs that will heal the wound 
 quicker nor all his foreign intments." He turned 
 and was about to move off, when, suddenly recol- 
 "ecting himself, he again faced the party, and added 
 " If you see any thing of Indian John about the 
 foot of the lake, you had better take him with you, 
 and let him lend the doctor a hand ; for old as he 
 is, he is curious at cuts and bruises, and it s like 
 lier than not he ll be in with brooms to sweep your 
 Christinas ha arths." 
 
 " Stop stop," cried the youth, catching the 
 arm of the black as he prepared to urge his horses 
 forward ; " Natty you need say nothing of the 
 shot, nor of where I am going remember, Natty, 
 as you love me." 
 
 " Trust old Leather-stocking," returned the 
 hunter, significantly ; " he has nt lived forty years 
 in the wilderness, and not larnt from the savag.es 
 how to hold his tongue trust to me, lad ; and re 
 member old Indian John." 
 
 " And, Natty," said the youth eagerly, still 
 holding the black by the arm, " I will just get the 
 shot extracted, and bring you ap, to-night, a quar 
 ter of the buck, for the Christmas dinner." 
 
 He was interrupted by the hunter, who held up 
 his finger with an expressive gesture for silence, 
 
THE PION~r~~, 21 
 
 and moved softly along the margin of the road, 
 kecking his eyes steadfastly fixed on the branches 
 of a pine near him. When he had obtained such 
 a position as he wished, he stopped, and cocking 
 his rifle, threw one leg far behind him, and stretch 
 ing his left arm to its utmost extent along the bar 
 rel of his piece, he began slowly to raise its muz 
 zle in a line with the straight trunk uf the tree. 
 The eyes of the group in the sleigh naturally pre 
 ceded the movement of the rifle, and they soon 
 discovered the object of Natty s aim. On a small 
 dead branch of the pine, which, at the distance of 
 seventy feet from the ground, shot out horizontal 
 ly, immediately beneath the living members of the 
 tree, sat a bird, that in the vulgar language of the 
 country was indiscriminately called a pheasant 
 or a partridge. In size, it was but little smaller 
 than a common barn-yard fowl. The baying of 
 the dogs, and the conversation that had passed 
 near the root of the tree on which it was perched, 
 had alarmed the bird, which was now drawn up 
 near the body of the pine, with a head and neck 
 erect, that formed nearly a straight line with its 
 legs. So soon as the rifle bore on the victim, 
 Natty drew his trigger, and the partridge fell from 
 its height with a force that buried it in the snow. 
 
 " Lie down, you old villain," exclaimed Lea 
 ther-stocking, shaking his ramrod at Hector as he 
 bounded towards the foot of the tree, " lie down, 
 I say." The dog obeyed, and Natty proceeded, 
 with great rapidity, though with the nicest accu 
 racy, to reload his piece. When this was ended, 
 he took up his game, and showing it to the party 
 without a head, he cried " Here is a nice tit-bit 
 for an old man s Christmas never mind the veni 
 son, boy, and remember Indian John ; his yarbs 
 are better nor all the foreign intments. Here, 
 
28 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 Judge," holding up the bird again, " do you think 
 a smooth-bore w T ould pick game off their roost, and 
 not ruffle a feather ?" The old man gave another 
 ol his remarkable laughs, which partook so largely 
 of exultation, mirth, and irony, and shaking his 
 head, he turned, with his rifle at a trail, and 
 moved into the forest with short and quick steps, 
 that were between a walk and a trot. At each 
 movement that he made his body lowered several 
 inches, his knees yielding with an inclination in 
 ward ; but as the sleigh turned at a bend in the 
 road, the youth cast his eyes in quest of his old 
 companion, and he saw that he was already nearly 
 concealed by the trunks of the trees, while his dogs 
 were following quietly in his footsteps, occasionally 
 scenting the deer track, that they seemed to know 
 instinctively was now of no further use to them. 
 Another jerk was given to the sleigh, and Leather- 
 stocking was hidden from view. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 AH places that the eye of Heaven visits, 
 Are to a wise man ports and happy havens : 
 Think not the king did banish thee : 
 
 But thou the king. 
 
 Richard II. 
 
 AN ancestor of Marmaduke Temple had, about 
 one hundred and twenty years before the commence 
 ment of our tale, come to the colony of Pennsyl 
 vania, a friend and co-religionist of its great patron. 
 Old Marmaduke, for this formidable prenomen was 
 a kind of appellative to the race, brought with him, 
 to that asylum of the persecuted, an abundance of 
 the good things of this life. He became the mas 
 ter of many thousands of acres of uninhabited ter 
 ritory, and the supporter of many a score of de 
 fendants. He lived greatly respected for his piety, 
 and not a little distinguished as a sectary : was in 
 trusted by his associates with many important po 
 litical stations; and died just in time to escape the 
 knowledge of his own poverty. It was his lot to 
 share the fortune of most of those who brought 
 wealth with them into the new settlements of the 
 middle colonies. 
 
 The consequence of an emigrant into these pro 
 vinces was generally to be ascertained by the num 
 ber of his white servants or dependants, and the 
 nature of the public situations that he held. Tak 
 ing this rule as a guide, the ancestor of our Judge 
 must have been a man of no little note. 
 
SO THE PIONEERS. 
 
 It is, however, a subject of curious inquiry at the 
 present day, to look into the" brief records of that 
 early period, and observe how regular, and with 
 few exceptions how inevitable, were the gradations, 
 on the one hand, of the masters to poverty, and 
 on the other, of their servants to wealth. Accus 
 tomed to ease, and unequal to the struggles inci 
 dent to an infant society, the affluent emigrant was 
 barely enabled to maintain his own rank, by the 
 weight of his personal superiority and acquire 
 ments ; but the moment that his head was laid in 
 the grave, his indolent, and comparatively unedu 
 cated offspring, were compelled to yield prece 
 dency to the more active energies of a class, whose 
 exertions had been stimulated by necessity. This 
 is a very common course of things, even in the 
 present state of the Union ; but it was peculiarly 
 the fortunes of the two extremes of society, in the 
 peaceful and unenterprising colonies of Pennsyl 
 vania and New-Jersey. 
 
 The posterity of Marmaduke did not escape the 
 common lot of those, who depended rather on their 
 hereditary possessions than on their own powers ; 
 and in the third generation, they had descended to 
 a point, below which, in this happy country, it is 
 barely possible for honesty, intellect, and sobriety, 
 to fall. The same pride of family that had, by its 
 self-satisfied indolence, conduced to aid their fall, 
 now became a principle to stimulate them to en 
 deavour to rise again. The feeling, from being 
 morbid was ch anged to a healthful and active de 
 sire to emulate the character, the condition, and 
 peradventure, the wealth, of their ancestors also. 
 It was the father of our new acquaintance, the 
 Judge, who first began to re-ascend the scale of 
 society : and in this undertaking he was not a little 
 assisted by a marriage that he formed, which aided 
 
THE PIONEERS. 31 
 
 greatly in furnishing the means of educating his 
 only son, in a rather better manner than the low 
 state of the common schools in Pennsylvania could 
 promise ; or than had been the practice in the 
 family, for the two or three preceding generations. 
 
 At the school where the reviving prosperity of 
 his father was enabled to maintain him, young 
 Marmaduke formed an intimacy with a youth, 
 whose years were about equal to his own. This 
 was a fortunate connexion for our judge, and 
 paved the way to most of his future elevation in 
 life, when the early inclination for each other in 
 the boys was matured into friendship. 
 
 There was not only great wealth, but high court 
 interest, among the connexions of Edward Effing- 
 ham. They were one of the very few families, 
 then resident in the colonies, who thought it a de 
 gradation to its members to descend to the pursuits 
 of commerce : and who never emerged from the 
 privacy of their domestic life, unless to preside in 
 the councils of the colony, or to bear arms in her de 
 fence. The latter had, from youth to approaching 
 age, been the only employment of Edward s father. 
 Military rank, under the crown of Great Britain, 
 was, sixty years ago, attained with much longer 
 probation, and by much more toilsome services, 
 than at the present time. Years were passed 
 without murmuring, in the subordinate grades of the 
 service ; and those soldiers who were stationed in 
 the colonies, felt, when they obtained the command 
 of a company, that they were entitled to receive, 
 the greatest deference from the peaceful occupants 
 of the soil. Any one of our readers, who in a 
 visit to the falls, has occasion to cross the Niagara, 
 by spending a day at Newark, may easily observe, 
 not only the self-importance, but the real estima 
 tion enjoyed by the humblest representative of the 
 
OZ THE PIONEERS. 
 
 crown, even in that polar region of royal sunshine. 
 Such, and at no very distant period, was the re 
 spect paid to the military in these States, where 
 now, happily, no symbol of war is ever seen, un 
 less at the free and fearless voice of their peo 
 ple. When, therefore, the father of Marmaduke s 
 friend, after forty years service, retired with the 
 rank of Major, maintaining in his domestic establish 
 ment a comparative splendour, it is not be doubted 
 but that he became a man of the first consideration 
 iti his native colony which was that of New- 
 1 ork. He had served with fidelity and courage, 
 and having been, according to the custom of the 
 provinces, intrusted with commands much superior 
 to those to which he was entitled by rank, with 
 reputation also. When Major Effingham yielded 
 to the claims of age, he retired with dignity, re 
 fusing his half-pay or any other compensation for 
 services, that he felt he could no longer perform. 
 
 The ministry proffered to his acceptance various 
 civil offices, which yielded not only honour but pro 
 fit ; but he declined them all, with the chivalrous 
 independence and loyalty that had marked his 
 character through life. The veteran soon caused 
 this act of patriotic disinterestedness to be follow 
 ed by another of private munificence, that, how 
 ever little it accorded with prudence, was in per 
 fect conformity w T ith the simple integrity of his 
 own views. 
 
 The friend of Marmaduke was his only child ; 
 and to this son, on his marriage with a lady to 
 whom the father was particularly partial, the Ma 
 jor gave a complete conveyance of his whole 
 estate, consisting of moneys in the funds, a town 
 and country residence, sundry valuable farms in 
 the old parts of the colony, and large tracts of 
 wild land in the new in this manner throwing 
 
 ^N** 
 
THE PIONEERS. 33 
 
 himself upon the filial piety of his child for his 
 own future maintenance. Major Effingham, in 
 declining the liberal offers of the British ministry, 
 had subjected himself to the suspicion of having 
 attained his dotage, by all those who throng the 
 avenues to court patronage, even in the remotest 
 corners of that vast empire ; but, when he thus 
 voluntarily stript himself of his great personal 
 wealth, the remainder of the community seemed 
 instinctively to adopt the conclusion also, that 
 he had reached a second childhood. This may 
 explain the fact of his importance rapidly declin 
 ing ; and, if privacy was his object, the veteran 
 had soon a free indulgence of his wishes. What 
 ever views the world might entertain of this act 
 of the Major, to himself and to his child, it seem 
 ed no more than a natural gift by a father, of those 
 immunities which he could no longer enjoy or im 
 prove, to a son, who was formed, both by nature 
 and education, to do both. The younger Effing- 
 ham did not object to the amount of the donation ; 
 for he felt that while his parent reserved a moral 
 control over his actions, he was relieving himself 
 from a fatiguing burthen : such, indeed, was the 
 confidence existing between them, that to neither 
 did it seem any thing more, than removing money 
 from one pocket to another. 
 
 One of the first acts of the young man, on com 
 ing into possession of his wealth, was to seek his 
 early friend, with a view to offer any assistance, 
 that it was now in his power to bestow. 
 
 The death of Marmaduke s father, and the con 
 sequent division of his small estate, rendered such 
 an offer extremely acceptable to the young Penn- 
 eylvanian : he felt his own powers, and saw, not 
 only the excellences, but the foibles, in the cha 
 racter of his friend. Effingham was by nature in- 
 
34 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 dolent, confiding, and at times impetuous and indis 
 creet ; but Marmaduke was uniformly equable, pene-*" 
 trating, and full of activity and enterprise. To the 
 latter, therefore, the assistance, or rather connexion 
 that was proffered to him, seemed to promise a 
 mutual advantage. It was cheerfully accepted, and the 
 arrangement of its conditions left entirely to the dic 
 tates of his own judgment. A mercantile house was 
 established in the metropolis of Pennsylvania, with the 
 avails of Mr Effingham s personal property; all, or 
 nearly all, of which was put into the possession of Tem 
 ple, who was the only ostensible proprietor in the con 
 cern, while, in secret, the other was entitled to an equal 
 participation in the profits. This connexion was thus 
 kept private for two reasons; one of which, in the 
 freedom of their intercourse, was frankly avowed to 
 Marmaduke, while the other continued profoundly hid 
 in the bosom of his friend. The last was nothing more 
 than pride. To the descendant of a line of soldiers, 
 commerce, even in that indirect manner, seemed a de 
 grading pursuit; and every sentiment of young Ef- 
 fingham was opposed to the acknowledgment of ^ju 
 arrangement, which he only reconciled to his private 
 feelings, by a knowledge of his own motives but an 
 insuperable obstacle to the disclosure existed in the 
 prejudices of his father. 
 
 We have already said that Major Effingham had 
 served as a soldier with reputation. On one occasion, 
 while in command on the western frontier of Pennsylva 
 nia, against a league of the French and Indians, not only 
 his glory, but the safety of himself and his troops were jeo 
 parded, by the peaceful policy of that colony. To the sol 
 dier, this was an unpardonable offence. He was fighting 
 in their defence, only ho knew that the mild prin- 
 
THE PIONEERS. 35 
 
 ciples ->f this little nation of practical Christians 
 would be disregarded by their subtle and malig 
 nant enemies ; and he felt the injury the more 
 deeply, because he saw that the avowed object of 
 the colonists, in withholding their succours, would 
 only have a tendency to expose his command, 
 without preserving the peace. The gallant soldier 
 succeeded, after a desperate conflict, in extricating 
 himself with a handful of his men, from their 
 murderous enemy : but he never forgave the peo 
 ple who had exposed him to a danger, which the.y 
 left him to combat alone. It was in vain to tell 
 him, that they had no agency in his being placed on 
 their frontier at all; it was evidently for their 
 benefit that he had been so placed, and it was their 
 " religious duty," so the Major always expressed 
 it ; " it was their religious duty to have supported 
 him." 
 
 At no time was the old soldier an admirer of 
 the peaceful disciples of Fox. Their disciplined 
 habits, both of mind and body, had endowed them 
 with great physical perfection ; and the eye of the 
 veteran was apt to scan the fair proportions and 
 athletic frames of the colonists, with a look that 
 seemed to utter volumes of contempt for their 
 moral imbecility. He was also a little addicted to 
 the expression of a belief, that, where there was 
 so great an observance of the externals of reli 
 gion, there could not be much of the substance. 
 It is not our task to explain what is, or ought to be, 
 the substance of Christianity, but merely to record 
 in this place the opinions of Major Effingham. 
 
 Knowing the sentiments of the father, in rela 
 tion to this people, it was no wonder that the son 
 hesitated to avow his connexion with, nay, even 
 his dependence on the integrity of, a quaker. 
 
 It has been seen that Marmaduke deduced his 
 
36 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 origin from the contemporaries and friends ol 
 Penn. His father had married without the pale 
 of the church to which he belonged, and had, i 
 this manner, forfeited some of the privileges o? 
 his offspring. Still, as young Marmaduke wa k 
 educated in a colony and society, where even th* 
 ordinary intercourse between friends was tine 
 tured with the aspect of this mild religion, hit 
 habits and language were somewhat marked by its 
 peculiarities. His own marriage at a future day 
 with a lady without, not only the pale, but the 
 influence of this sect of religionists, had a tenden 
 cy, it is true, to weaken his early impressions; 
 still he retained them, in some degree, to the hour 
 of his death, and was observed uniformly, when 
 much interested or agitated, to speak in the lan 
 guage of his youth But this is anticipating our 
 tale. 
 
 When Marmaduke first became the partner of 
 young Effingham, he was quite the quaker in ex 
 ternals ; and it was too dangerous an experiment 
 for the son to think of encountering the preju 
 dices of the father on this subject. The connex 
 ion, therefore, remained a profound secret to all 
 but those who were interested in it. 
 
 For a few years, Marmaduke directed the com 
 mercial operations of his house with a prudence 
 and sagacity, that afforded rich returns for the 
 labour and hazard incurred. He married the lady 
 we have mentioned, who was the mother of Eliza 
 beth, and the visits of his friend were becoming 
 more frequent ; and there was a speedy prospect 
 of removing the veil from their intercourse, as its 
 advantages became each hour more apparent to 
 Mr. Effingham, when the troubles that preceded 
 the war of the revolution extended themselves to 
 an alarming degree. 
 
THE PIONEERS. 37 
 
 Educated in the most dependent loyalty by his fa- 
 , Mr. Effingham had, from the commencement 
 of the disputes between the colonists and the 
 crown, warmly maintained, what he believed to 
 be, the just prerogatives of his prince ; while on 
 the other hand, the clear head and independent 
 mind of Temple had induced him to espouse the 
 cause of the people. Both might have been 
 influenced by early impressions ; for, if the son of 
 the loyal and gallant soldier bowed in implicit 
 obedience to the will of his sovereign, the de 
 scendant of the persecuted follower of Penn 
 looked back, with a little bitterness, to the un 
 merited wrongs that had been heaped upon his 
 ancestors. 
 
 This difference in opinion had long been a sub 
 ject of amicable dispute between them, but, latter 
 ly, the contest was getting to be too important to 
 admit of trivial discussions on the part of Marma 
 duke, whose acute discernment was already catch- 
 mg faint glimmerings of the important events that 
 were in embryo. The sparks of dissension soon 
 fcindled into a blaze ; and the colonies, or rather, 
 as they quickly declared themselves, THE STATES ; 
 became a scene of strife and bloodshed for years. 
 
 A short time before the battle of Lexington, 
 Mr. Effingham, already a widower, transmitted to 
 Marmaduke, for safe-keeping, all his valuable 
 effects and papers ; and left the colony without his 
 /ather. The war had, however, scarcely com 
 menced in earnest, when he re-appeared in New- 
 York, wearing the livery of his king, and in a 
 short time he took the field at the head of a pro 
 vincial corps. In the mean time, Marmaduke had 
 completely committed himself in the cause, as it 
 was then called, of the rebellion : of course, all 
 intercourse between the friends ceased on the 
 4 
 
THE PIONEERS. 
 
 part of Col. Effingham it was unsought, and on 
 that of Marmaduke there was a cautious reserve. 
 It soon became necessary for the latter to abandon 
 the capital of Philadelphia; but he had taken the 
 precaution to remove to the interior the whole 01 
 his effects, beyond the reach of the royal forces, 
 including the papers of his friend also. There he 
 continued serving his country during the struggle, 
 in various civil capacities, and always with dignity 
 and usefulness. While, however, he discharged 
 his functions with credit and fidelity, Marmaduke 
 never seemed to lose sight of his own interests ; 
 for, when the estates of the adherents of the 
 crown fell under the hammer, by the acts of con 
 fiscation, he appeared in New-York, and became 
 the purchaser of extensive possessions at, compa 
 ratively, very low prices. 
 
 It is true that Marmaduke, by thus purchasing 
 estates that had been wrested by violence from 
 others, rendered himself obnoxious to the cen 
 sures of that sect, which, at the same time that it 
 discards its children from a full participation in the 
 family union, seems ever unwilling to abandon 
 them entirely to the world, But either his suc 
 cess, or the frequency of the transgression in 
 others, soon wiped off this slight stain from his 
 character : and although there were a few, who, 
 dissatisfied with their own fortunes, or conscious 
 of their own demerits, would make dark hints 
 concerning the sudden prosperity of the unpor- 
 tioned quaker, yet his services, and possibly his 
 wealth, soon drove the recollection of these vague 
 conjectures from men s minds. 
 
 When the war was ended, and the indepen 
 dence of the states acknowledged, Mr. Temple 
 turned his attention from the pursuit of commerce, 
 which was then fluctuating and uncertain, to the 
 
THE PIONEERS. 39 
 
 settlement of those tracts of land which he had 
 purchased. Aided by a good deal of money, and 
 directed by the suggestions of a strong and practi 
 cal reason, his enterprises throve to a degree, that 
 the climate and rugged face of the country which 
 he selected would seem to forbid. His property 
 increased in a tenfold ratio, and he was already to 
 be ranked among the most wealthy and important 
 of his countrymen. To inherit this wealth he 
 had but one child the daughter whom we have 
 introduced to the reader, and whom he was now 
 conveying from school, to preside over a house 
 hold that had too long wanted a mistress. 
 
 When the district in which his estates lay, had 
 become sufficiently populous to be set off as a 
 county, Mr. Temple had, according to the custom 
 of the new settlements, been selected to fill its 
 highest judicial station. This might make a Tem 
 plar smile, but in addition to the apology of neces 
 sity, there is ever a dignity in talents and expe 
 rience, that is commonly sufficient, in any station, 
 for the protection of its possessor; and Marma- 
 duke, more fortunate in his native clearness of 
 mind than the judge of King Charles, not only 
 decided right, but was generally able to give a 
 very good reason for it. At all events, such was 
 the universal practice of the country and the 
 times ; and Judge Temple, so far from ranking 
 among the lowest of his judicial contemporaries in 
 the courts of the new counties, felt himself, and 
 was unanimously acknowledged to be, among the 
 first. 
 
 We shall here close this brief explanation of the 
 history and character of some of our personages, 
 leaving them in future to speak and act for them 
 selves. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 All that thou see st, is nature s handy-work ; 
 Those rocks that upward throw their mossy brow*. 
 Like castled pinnacles of the elder times 1 
 These venerable stems, that slowly rock 
 Their tow ring branches in the wintry gale I 
 That field of frost, which glitters in the sun, 
 Mocking the whiteness of a marble breast ! 
 Yet man can mar such works with his rude taste, 
 Like some sad spoiler of a virgin s fame. 
 
 Duo. 
 
 SOME little while elapsed, after the horses ha<i 
 resumed their journey, ere Marmaduke Temple 
 was sufficiently recovered from his agitation to 
 scan the person of his new companion. He now 
 observed, that he was a youth of some two or 
 three and twenty years of age ; and rather above 
 the middle height. Further observation was pre 
 vented by the rough overcoat which was belted 
 close to his form by a worsted sash, much like the 
 one worn by the old hunter. The eyes of the 
 Judge, after resting a moment on the figure of the 
 stranger, were raised to a scrutiny of his coun 
 tenance. There had been a contraction of the 
 brows, and a look of care, visible in the features 
 of the youth, when he first entered the sleigh, 
 that had not only attracted the notice of Elizabeth, 
 but which she had been much puzzled to interpret. 
 
THE PIONEERS. 41 
 
 The passion seemed the strongest when he was 
 enjoining his old companion to secrecy ; and when 
 he had decided, and was, rather passively, suffer 
 ing himself to be conveyed to the village, the ex 
 pression of the young man s eyes by no means 
 indicated any great degree of self-satisfaction at 
 the step. But the lines of an uncommonly pre 
 possessing countenance were gradually becoming 
 composed ; and he now sat in silent, and apparent 
 ly abstracted musing. The Judge gazed at him 
 for some time with earnestness, and then smiling 
 as if at his own forgetfulness, he spoke 
 
 " I believe, my young friend, that terror has 
 driven your name from my recollection your face 
 is very familiar to me, and yet for the honour of a 
 score of buck s-tails in my cap, I could not tell 
 your name." 
 
 " I came into the country but three weeks 
 since, sir," returned the youth coldly, " and I un 
 derstand you have been absent more than that 
 time." 
 
 " It will be five to-morrow. Yet your face is 
 one that I have seen ; though it would not be 
 strange, such has been my affright, should I see 
 thee in thy winding-sheet walking by my bed 
 side, to-night. What say st thou, Bess ? Am I 
 compos mentis or not? Fit to charge a grand 
 jury, or, what is just now of more pressing neces 
 sity, able to do the honours of a Christmas-eve in 
 the hall of Templeton ?" 
 
 " More able to do either, my dear father," said 
 a playful voice from under the ample enclosures 
 of the hood, " than to kill deer with a smooth 
 bore." A short pause followed ; and the same 
 voice, but in a different accent, continued " We 
 shall have good reasons for our thanksgiving to 
 night, on more accounts than one." 
 4* 
 
42 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 A slightly scornful smile passed over the fea 
 tures of the youth, at the archness of the first 
 part of this speech ; but it instantly vanished, as 
 he listened to the tremulous tones in which it 
 was concluded. The Judge, also, seemed to be 
 affected with the consciousness of how narrowly 
 he had escaped taking the life of a fellow-creature, 
 and, for some time, there was a dead silence in the 
 sleigh. 
 
 The horses soon reached a point, where they 
 seemed to know by instinct that their journey was 
 nearly ended, and, bearing on the bits, as they 
 tossed their heads, uneasily, up and down, they 
 rapidly drew the sleigh over the level land, which 
 lay on the top of the mountain, and soon came to 
 the point where the road descended suddenly, but 
 circuitously, into the valley. 
 
 The Judge was roused from his reflections, 
 when he saw the four columns of dense smoke, 
 which floated along the air from his own chimneys. 
 As house, village, and valley burst on his sight, he 
 exclaimed cheerfully to his daughter 
 
 " See, Bess, there is thy resting-place for life ! 
 And thine too, young man, if thou wilt consent to 
 dwell with us." 
 
 The eyes of the youth and maiden involuntarily 
 met, as the Ju 3ge, in the warmth of his feelings, 
 thus included them in an association which was to 
 endure so long ; and if the deepening colour, that, 
 notwithstanding her hood, might be seen gather 
 ing over the face even to the forehead of Eliza 
 beth, was contradicted in its language by the 
 proud expression of her eye, the scornful but. 
 covert smile that again played about the lips of 
 the stranger, seemed equally to deny the prob 
 ability of his consenting to form one of this 
 family group. The scene was one, however, 
 
THE PIONEERS. 43 
 
 which might easily warm a heart less given to phil 
 anthropy than that of Marmaduke Temple, 
 
 The side of the mountain, on which our travel 
 lers, were journeying, though not absolutely per 
 pendicular, was yet so steep as to render great care 
 necessary in descending the rude and narrow path, 
 which, in that early day, wound along the preci 
 pices. The negro reined in his impatient steeds, 
 and ,time was given to Elizabeth to dwell on a 
 scene which was so rapidly altering under the 
 hands of man, that it only resembled, in its out 
 lines, the picture she had so often studied, with de 
 light, in her childhood. On the right, and stretch 
 ing for several miles to the north, lay a narrow 
 plain, buried among mountains, which, falling oc 
 casionally, jutted in long low points, that were co 
 vered with tall trees, into the valley ; and then 
 again, for miles, stretched their lofty brows per 
 pendicularly along its margin, nourishing in the 
 crags that formed their sides, pines and hemlocks 
 thinly interspersed with chesnut and beech, which 
 grew in lines nearly parallel to the mountains 
 themselves. The dark foliage of the evergreens 
 was brilliantly contrasted by the glittering white 
 ness of the plain, which exhibited, over the tops 
 of the trees, and through the vistas formed by the 
 advancing points of the hills, a single sheet of un 
 spotted snow, relieved occasionally by a few small 
 dark objects that were discovered, as they were 
 passing directly beneath the feet of the travellers, 
 to be sleighs moving in various directions. On 
 the western border of the plain, the mountains, 
 though equally high, were less precipitous, and as 
 they receded, opened into irregular valleys and 
 glens, and were formed into terraces, and hollows 
 that admitted of cultivation. Although the ever 
 greens still held dominion over many of the hills 
 
44 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 that rose on this side of the valley, yet the undu 
 lating outlines of the distant mountains, covered 
 with forests of beech and maple, gave a relief to 
 the eye, and the promise of a kinder soil. Occa 
 sionally, spots of white were discoverable amidst 
 the forests of the opposite hills, that announced, by 
 the smoke which curled over the tops of the trees, 
 the habitations of man, and the commencement oi 
 agriculture. These spots were sometimes, by the 
 aid of united labour, enlarged into what were call 
 ed settlements; but more frequently were small 
 and insulated ; though so rapid were the changes, 
 and so persevering the labours of those who had 
 cast their fortunes on the success of the enterprise, 
 that it was not difficult for the imagination of Eli 
 zabeth to conceive they were enlarging under her 
 eye, while she was gazing, in mute wonder, at the 
 alterations that a few short years had made in the 
 aspect of the country. The points on the western 
 side of the plain were both larger and more nume 
 rous than those on its eastern, and one in particu 
 lar thrust itself forward in such a manner as to 
 form beautifully curved bays of snow on either 
 side. On its extreme end a mighty oak stretched 
 forward, as if to overshadow, with its branches, a 
 spot which its roots were forbidden to enter. It 
 had released itself from the thraldom, that a growth 
 of centuries had imposed on the branches of the 
 surrounding forest-trees, and threw its gnarled and 
 fantastic arms abroad, in all the wildness of unre 
 strained liberty. A dark spot of a few acres in ex 
 tent at the southern extremity of this beautiful flat, 
 and immediately under the feet of our travellers, 
 alone showed, by its rippling surface, and the va 
 pours which exhaled from it, that what at first might 
 seem a plain, was one of the mountain lakes, lock 
 ed in the frosts of winter. A narrow current rush- 
 
THE PIONEERS. 45 
 
 ed impetuously from its bosom at the open place 
 we have mentioned, and might be traced for a few 
 miles, as it wound its way towards the south 
 through the real valley, by its borders of hemlock 
 and pine, and by the vapour which arose from its 
 warmer surface into the chill atmosphere of the 
 hills. The banks of this lovely basin, at its outlet, 
 or southern end, were steep but not high ; and in 
 that direction the land continued for many miles a 
 narrow but level plain, along which the settlers 
 had scattered their humble habitations, with a pro 
 fusion that bespoke the quality of the soil, and the 
 comparative facilities of intercourse. Immediately 
 on the bank of the lake, stood the village of Tem- 
 pleton. It consisted of about fifty buildings, in 
 cluding those of every description, chiefly built of 
 wood, and which, in their architecture, bore not 
 only strong marks of the absence of taste, but also, 
 by the slovenly and unfinished appearance of most 
 of the dwellings, indicated the hasty manner of 
 their construction. To the eye, they presented a 
 variety of colours. A few were white in both 
 front and rear, but more bore that expensive co 
 lour on their fronts only, while their economical 
 but ambitious owners had covered the remaining 
 sides of their edifices with a dingy red. One or 
 two were slowly assuming the russet of age ; while 
 the uncovered beams that were to be seen through 
 the broken windows of their second stories, show 
 ed, that either the taste, or the vanity of their pro 
 prietors, had led them to undertake a task which 
 they were unable to accomplish. The whole were 
 grouped together in a manner that aped the streets 
 of a city, and were evidently so arranged, by the 
 directions of one, who looked far ahead to the 
 wants of posterity, rather than to the convenience 
 of the present incumbents. Some three or four of 
 
46 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 the better sort of buildings, in addition to the uni 
 formity of their colour, were fitted with green 
 blinds, that were rather strangely contrasted to the 
 chill aspect of the lake, the mountains, the forests, 
 and the wide fields of snow. Before the doors of 
 these pretending dwellings, were placed a few sap 
 lings, either without branches, or possessing only 
 the feeble shoots of one or two summer s growth, 
 that looked not unlike tall grenadiers on post, near 
 the threshold of princes. In truth, the occupants 
 of these favoured habitations were the nobles of 
 Templeton, as Marmaduke was its king. They 
 were the dwellings of two young men who were 
 cunning in the law ; an equal number of that class 
 who chaffered to supply the wants of the commu 
 nity under the significant title of store-keepers ; 
 and a disciple of .ZEsculapius, who, for a novelty, 
 brought more subjects into the world than he sent 
 out of it. In the midst of this incongruous group 
 of dwellings, rose the mansion of the Judge, tow 
 ering proudly above all its neighbours. It stood 
 in the centre of an enclosure that included several 
 acres, which were covered with fruit-trees. Some 
 of these were of Indian origin, and began already 
 to assume the moss and inclination of age, therein 
 forming a very marked contrast to the infant plan 
 tations that peered over most of the picketed 
 fences in the village. In addition to this show of 
 cultivation, were two rows of young poplars, a tree 
 but lately introduced into America, formally lining 
 either side of a pathway, which led from a gate, 
 that opened on the principal street, to the front 
 door of the building. The house itself had been 
 built entirely under the superintendence of a Mr. 
 Richard Jones, whom we have already mentioned, 
 and who, from a certain cleverness in small matters, 
 and his willingness to exert his talents, added to 
 
THE PIONEERS. 47 
 
 the circumstance of their being sisters children, 
 ordinarily superintended all the minor concerns of 
 Marmaduke Temple s business. Richard was fond 
 of saying, that this child of his invention consisted 
 of nothing more nor less, than what should form 
 the ground-work of a clergyman s discourse ; viz. 
 a firstly, and a lastly. He had commenced his la 
 bours in the first year of their residence, by erect 
 ing a tall, gaunt edifice of wood, with its gable to 
 wards the highway. In this shelter, for it was but 
 little more, the family resided for three years. By 
 the end of that period, Richard had completed his 
 design. He had availed himself, in this heavy un 
 dertaking, of the experience of a certain wander 
 ing, eastern mechanic, who, by exhibiting a few 
 solid plates of English architecture, and talking 
 learnedly of friezes, entablatures, and particularly 
 of the composite order, had obtained a very undue 
 influence over Richard s taste, in every thing that 
 pertained to that branch of the fine arts. Not but 
 that Mr. Jones affected to consider Mr. Hiram 
 Doolittle a perfect empiric in his profession ; be 
 ing in the constant habit of listening to his treatises 
 on architecture, with a kind of indulgent smile, yet, 
 either from an inability to oppose them by any 
 thing plausible from his own stores of learning, or 
 from a secret admiration of their truth, Richard 
 generally submitted to the arguments of his coad 
 jutor. Together, they had not only erected a 
 dwelling for Marmaduke, but had given a fashion 
 to the architecture of the country. The compo 
 site order, Mr. Doolittle would contend, was an 
 order composed of many others, and was intended 
 to be the most useful, for it admitted into its con 
 struction such alterations as convenience or cir 
 cumstances might require. To this proposition 
 Richard very gravely assented ; and it was by this 
 
48 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 unison in sentiment that the composite order, or a 
 style of architecture that emanated from the car 
 penter s own genius, with a few suggestions from 
 the other, became the fashion of the new county. 
 The house itself, or the " lastly," was of stone ; 
 large, square, formal, and far from uncomfortable, 
 These were four requisites, on which Marmaduke 
 had insisted with a little more than his ordinary 
 pertinacity. But every thing else was peaceably 
 resigned to Richard and his associate. These wor 
 thies found but little opportunity for the display of 
 their talents on a stone edifice, excepting in the 
 roof and in the porch. The former, it was soon 
 decided, should be made with four faces and a plat 
 form, in order to hide a part of the building that 
 all writers agreed was an object that ought to be 
 concealed. To this arrangement, Marmaduke ob 
 jected the heavy snows that lay for months, fre 
 quently covering the earth to a depth of three or 
 four feet. Happily, the facilities of the composite 
 order presented themselves to effect a compromise, 
 and the rafters were lengthened, so as to give a 
 descent that should carry off the frozen element. 
 But unluckily, some mistake was made in the ad 
 measurement of these material parts of the fabric, 
 and as one of the greatest recommendations of Hi 
 ram was his ability to work by the " square rule," 
 no opportunity was found of discovering the effect 
 that was to be produced by this offspring of com 
 pound genius, until the massive timbers were raised, 
 with much labour, on the four walls of the build 
 ing. Then, indeed, it was soon seen, that, in de 
 fiance of all rule, the roof was by far the most con 
 spicuous part of the edifice. Richard and his as 
 sociate consoled themselves with the belief, that 
 the covering would aid in concealing this unnatu 
 ral elevation ; but every shingle that was laid was 
 
THE PIONEERS. 49 
 
 only multiplying objects to look at. Richard es 
 sayed to remedy the evil with paint, and four dif 
 ferent colours were laid on by his own hands. The 
 first was a sky-blue, in the vain expectation that 
 the eye might be cheated into the belief, it was 
 the heavens themselves that hung so imposingly 
 over Marmaduke s dwelling ; the second was, what 
 he called, a " cloud-colour," being nothing more 
 nor less than an imitation of light smoke ; the third 
 was what Richard termed an invisible green, which 
 he laid on with a belief, that the deformity might 
 be blended with the back-ground of pines, that 
 rose, in tall grandeur, but a short distance in the 
 rear of the mansion-house. But all these inge 
 nious expedients entirely failed, and our artists re 
 linquished the desire to conceal, and attempted to 
 ornament, the offensive member. The last colour 
 that Richard bestowed on the luckless roof, was a 
 " sun-shiny yellow ;" so called, both from its re 
 semblance to, and its powers to resist, the rays of 
 the great luminary. The platform, as well as the 
 eaves of the house, were surmounted by gaudily 
 painted railings, and the genius of Hiram was ex 
 erted in the fabrication of divers urns and mould 
 ings, that were scattered profusely around this part 
 of their labours. Richard had originally a cunning 
 expedient, by which the chimneys were intended 
 to be so low, and so situated, as to resemble orna 
 ments on the balustrades ; but comfort required 
 that the chimneys should rise with the roof, in or 
 der that the smoke might be carried off, and they 
 thus became four extremely conspicuous objects in 
 the view. 
 
 As this was much the most important undertaking 
 
 in which Mr. Jones was ever engaged, his failure 
 
 produced a correspondent degree of mortification. 
 
 At first, he whispered among his acquaintances, 
 
 o 
 
50 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 that it all proceeded from ignorance of the square 
 rule on the part of Hiram, but as his eye became 
 gradually accustomed to the object, he grew bettei 
 satisfied with his labours, and instead of apologizing 
 for the defects, he commenced praising the beau 
 ties of the mansion-house. He soon found hear 
 ers ; and, as wealth and comfort are at all times 
 attractive, it was made a model for imitation on a 
 small scale. In less than two years from its erec 
 tion, he had the pleasure of standing on the elevat 
 ed platform, and of looking down on three humble 
 imitators of its beauty. Thus it is ever with 
 fashion, which even renders the faults of the great 
 subjects of admiration. 
 
 Marmaduke bore this deformity in his dwelling 
 with great good nature, and soon contrived, by his 
 own improvements, to give an air both of respecta 
 bility and comfort to his place of residence ; still 
 there was much of incongruity, even immediately 
 about the mansion-house. Although poplars had 
 been brought from Europe to ornament the grounds, 
 and willows and other trees were gradually spring 
 ing up nigh the dwelling, yet many a pile of snow 
 betrayed the presence of the stump of a mighty 
 pine ; and even, in one or two instances, unsightly 
 remnants of trees that had been partly destroyed 
 by fire were seen rearing their black and glisten 
 ing columns, for twenty or thirty feet above the 
 pure white of the snow. These, which in the lan 
 guage of the country are termed stubs, abounded 
 in the open fields adjacent to the village, and were 
 accompanied, occasionally, by the ruin of a pine or 
 a hemlock that had been stripped of its bark, and 
 which waved in melancholy grandeur its naked 
 limbs to the blast, a skeleton of its former glory.. 
 But these unpleasant additions to the view were 
 unnoticed by the delighted Elizabeth, who, as the 
 
THE PIONEERS. 51 
 
 horses slowly moved down the side of the moun 
 tain, saw only in gross the cluster of houses that 
 lay like a map at her feet ; the fifty smokes, that 
 were diagonally curling from the valley to the 
 clouds ; the frozen lake, as it lay embedded in 
 mountains of evergreen, with the long shadows of 
 the pines on its white surface, lengthening in the 
 setting sun ; the dark riband of water, that gushed 
 from the outlet, and was winding its way already 
 towards the far distant Chesapeake the altered, 
 though still remembered, scenes of her childhood 
 and of joy! 
 
 Five years had here wrought greater changes 
 than a century would produce in older countries, 
 where time and labour have given permanency to 
 the works of man. To the young hunter and the 
 Judge the scene had less of novelty ; though none 
 ever emerge from the dark forests of that moun 
 tain, and witness the glorious scenery of that beau 
 teous valley, as it bursts unexpectedly upon them, 
 without a feeling of delight. The former cast one 
 admiring glance from north to south, and then sunk 
 his face again beneath the folds of his coat ; while 
 the latter contemplated, with philanthropic plea 
 sure, the prospect of affluence and comfort, that 
 was expanding around him ; the result of his own 
 enterprise, and much of it the fruits of his own 
 industry. 
 
 The cheerful sound of sleigh-bells, however- 
 soon attracted the attention of the whole party, as 
 they came jingling up the sides of the mountain, at 
 a rate that announced both a powerful team and a 
 hard driver. The bushes which lined the high 
 way interrupted the view, and they were close 
 upon this vehicle before they discovered who 
 were its occupants. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 How now t whose mare s dead f what s the matter. 
 
 Falstaff. 
 
 A FEW minutes resolved whatever doubts our 
 travellers entertained, as to the description of 
 those who were approaching them with such ex 
 hilarating sounds. A large lumber-sleigh, drawn 
 by four horses, was soon seen dashing through the 
 leafless bushes, which fringed the road that was 
 here, as on the other side of the mountain, cut into 
 the hill. The leaders were of gray, and the pole- 
 horses of a jet black. Bells, innumerable, were 
 suspended from every part of the harness, where 
 one of those tinkling balls could be placed ; while 
 the rapid movement of the equipage, in defiance 
 of the steep ascent, announced the desire of the 
 driver to ring them to the utmost. The first glance 
 at this singular arrangement satisfied the Judge 
 as to the character of those in the sleigh. It con 
 tained four male figures. On one of those stools 
 that are used at writing-desks, lashed firmly to the 
 sides of the vehicle, was seated a little man, en 
 veloped in a great coat fringed with fur, in such a 
 manner that no part of him was visible excepting 
 a face, of an unvarying red colour. There was a 
 habitual upward look about the head of this gen- 
 
THE PIONEERS. 53 
 
 tleman, as if it were dissatisfied with the proximity 
 to the earth that nature had decreed in his stature, 
 and the expression of his countenance was that of 
 busy care. He was the charioteer, and he guided 
 the mettled animals that he drove along the preci 
 pice, with a fearless eye, and a steady hand. Im 
 mediately behind him, with his face toward the 
 other two, was a tall figure, to whose appearance 
 not even the duplicate over-coats which he wore, 
 aided by the corner of a horse-blanket, could give 
 the appearance of strength. His face was protrud 
 ing from beneath a woollen night-cap ; and when 
 he turned to the vehicle of Marmaduke as the 
 sleighs approached each other, it seemed formed 
 by nature to cut the atmosphere with the least 
 possible resistance. The eyes alone appeared to 
 create an obstacle, as from either side of his fore 
 head their light, blue, glassy balls projected. The 
 sallow of his countenance was a colour too perma 
 nent to be affected even by the intense cold of the 
 evening. Opposite to this personage, sat a square 
 figure of large proportions. No part of his form 
 was to be discovered through his over-dress, but a 
 full face with an agreeable expression, that was il 
 luminated by a pair of animated black eyes of a 
 lurking look, that gave the lie to every demure 
 feature in his countenance. A fair, jolly wig fur 
 nished a neat and rounded outline to his visage, 
 and he, as well as the other two, wore martin-skin 
 caps as outward coverings for their heads. The 
 fourth was a meek-looking, long-visaged man, 
 without any other protection from the cold than 
 that which was furnished by a black surtout, made 
 with some little formality, but which was rather 
 thread-bare and rusty. He wore a hat of extreme 
 ly decent proportions, though frequent brushing 
 had quite destroyed its nap. His face was pale, 
 5* 
 
64 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 with a little melancholy, but so slightly expressed, 
 as to leave the beholder in doubt, whether it pro 
 ceeded from mental or bodily ailment. The air 
 had given it, just now, a slight and somewhat fe 
 verish flush. The character of his whole appear 
 ance, especially contrasted to the air of humour in 
 his next companion, was that of a habitual, but sub 
 dued dejection. No sooner had the two sleighs 
 approached within speaking distance, than the 
 driver of this fantastic equipage shouted aloud 
 
 u Draw up in the quarry draw up, thou king 
 of the Greeks ; draw into the quarry, Agamemnon, 
 or I shall never be able to pass you. Welcome 
 home, cousin duke welcome, welcome, my black- 
 eyed Bess. Thou seest, Marmaduke, that I have 
 taken the field with an assorted cargo, to do thee 
 honour. Monsieur Le Quoi has come out with 
 only one cap ; Old Fritz would not stay to finish 
 the bottle ; and Mr. Grant has got to put the "last 
 ly" to his sermon, yet. Even all the horses would 
 come by the by, Judge, I must sell these blacks 
 for you immediately ; they both interfere, and 
 then the nigh one is a bad goer in double harness. 
 I can get rid of them to " 
 
 " Sell what thou wilt, Dickon," interrupted the 
 cheerful voice of the Judge, " so that thou leavest 
 me my daughter and my lands. Ah ! Fritz, my 
 old friend, this is a kind compliment, indeed, for 
 seventy to pay to five and forty. Monsieur Le 
 Quoi, I am your servant. Mr. Grant," lifting his 
 cap, " I feel indebted to your attention. Gentle 
 men, I make you acquainted with my child. 
 Yours are names with which she is very familiar." 
 
 " Velcome, velcome, Tchooge," said the elder 
 of the party, with a strong German accent. " Miss 
 Petsy vilt owe me a kiss." 
 
 " And cheerfully will I pay it, my good sir," 
 
THE PIONEERS. 55 
 
 cried the soft voice of Elizabeth ; which sounded, 
 in the clear air of the hills, like tones of silver, 
 amid the loud cries of Richard, and the manly 
 greetings of the gentleman. " I have always a kiss 
 for my old friend, Major Hartmann." 
 
 By this time the gentleman on the front seat, 
 who had been addressed as Monsieur Le Quoi, 
 rose with some difficulty, owing to the impediment 
 of his over coats, and steadying himself by placing 
 one hand on the stool of the charioteer, with the 
 other he removed his cap, and bowing politely to 
 the Judge, and profoundly to Elizabeth, he said 
 with a smile that opened a mouth of no common 
 dimensions 
 
 u Ver velcome home, Monsieur Tempi . Ah 
 Mam selle Liz bet, you ver humble sairvant." 
 
 " Cover thy poll, Gaul, cover thy poll," cried 
 the driver, who was Mr. Richard Jones ; " cover 
 thy poll, or the frost will pluck out the remnant 
 of thy locks. Had the hairs on the head of Abso- 
 lom been as scarce as on this crown of thine, he 
 might have been living to this day." The jokes 
 of Richard never failed of exciting risibility, for if 
 others were unbending, he uniformly did honour 
 to his own wit ; and he enjoyed a hearty laugh 
 on the present occasion, while Mr. Le Quoi re 
 sumed his seat with a polite reciprocation in his 
 mirth. The clergyman, for such was the office of 
 Mr. Grant, modestly, though quite affectionately, 
 exchanged his greetings with the travellers also, 
 when Richard prepared to turn the heads of his 
 horses homeward. 
 
 It was in the quarry alone that he could affect 
 this object, without ascending to the summit of the 
 mountain. A very considerable excavation had 
 been made into the side of the hill, at the point 
 where Richard had succeeded in stopping the 
 
56 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 sleighs, from which the stones used for building in 
 the village were ordinarily quarried, and in which 
 he now attempted to turn his team. Passing itself 
 was a task of difficulty, and frequently of danger, 
 in that narrow road ; but Richard had to meet 
 the additional risk of turning his four-in-hand. 
 The black very civilly volunteered his services to 
 take off the leaders, and the Judge very earnestly 
 seconded the measure with his advice. Richard 
 treated the proposals with great disdain. 
 
 " Why, and wherefore, cousin duke," he ex 
 claimed a little angrily ; the horses are as gentle 
 as lambs. You know that I broke the leaders my 
 self, and the pole-horses are too near my whip to 
 be restive. Here is Mr. Le Quoi, now, who must 
 know something about driving, because he has 
 rode out so often with me ; I will leave it to Mr. 
 Le Quoi whether there is any danger." 
 
 Thus appealed to, it was not in the nature of the 
 Frenchman to disappoint expectations that were 
 so confidently formed ; although he sat looking 
 down the precipice which fronted him, as Richard 
 turned his leaders into the quarry, with a pair of 
 eyes that stood at least half an inch from his visage. 
 The German s muscles were unmoved, but his 
 quick sight scanned each movement with an un 
 derstanding expression, that blended amusement 
 at Richard s dilemma with anxiety at their situa 
 tion. Mr. Grant placed his hands on the side of 
 the sleigh, in preparation for a spring, but moral 
 timidity deterred him from taking the leap that 
 bodily apprehension strongly urged him to attempt. 
 
 Richard, by a sudden application of his whip, 
 succeeded in forcing his leaders into the snow 
 bank that covered the quarry ; but the instant that 
 the impatient animals suffered by the crust, through 
 which they broke at each step, they positively re- 
 
THE PIONEERS. 57 
 
 fused to move an inch further in that direction. 
 On the contrary, finding that the cries and blows 
 of their driver were redoubled at this juncture, the 
 leaders backed upon the pole-horses, who, in their 
 turn, backed the sleigh. Only a single log lay 
 above the pile which upheld the road, on the side 
 toward the valley, which was now buried in the 
 snow. The sleigh was easily forced across this 
 slight impediment ; and before Richard became 
 conscious of his danger, one half of the vehicle was 
 projected over a precipice, which fell, nearly per 
 pendicularly, more than a hundred feet. The 
 Frenchman, who, by his position, had a full view of 
 their threatened flight, instinctively threw his body 
 as far forward as possible in the sleigh, and cried, 
 " Ah ! Mon cher monsieur Deeck ! mon dieu ! 
 prenez gardez vous !" 
 
 " Donner and blitzen, Richart," exclaimed the 
 veteran German, looking over the side of the sleigh 
 with unusual emotion, " put you will preak ter 
 sleigh and kilt ter horses." 
 
 " Good Mr. Jones," said the clergyman, losing 
 the slight flush that cold had given to his cheeks, 
 " be prudent, good sir be careful." 
 
 " Get up, you obstinate devils !" cried Richard, 
 catching a bird s eye view of his situation, applying 
 his whip with new vigour, and unconsciously kick 
 ing the stool on which he sat, as if inclined to urge 
 the inanimate wood forward ; " Get up, I say 
 Cousin duke, I shall have to sell the grays too ; 
 they are the worst broken horses Mr. Le Quaw !" 
 Richard was too much agitated to regard his pro 
 nunciation, of which he was commonly a little 
 vain ; " Monsieur Le Quaw, pray get off my leg 3 
 you .hold my leg so tight, that it s no wonder I 
 can t guide the horses. 
 
58 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 " Merciful Providence !" exclaimed the Judge, 
 " they will be all killed ! 
 
 Elizabeth gave a piercing shriek, and the black 
 of Agamemnon s face changed to a muddy white. 
 
 At this critical moment, the young hunter, who, 
 during the salutations of the parties, had sat in ra 
 ther sullen silence, sprang from the sleigh of Mar- 
 maduke to the heads of the refractory leaders. The 
 horses, who were yet suffering under the injudi 
 cious and somewhat random blows from Richard, 
 were dancing up and down with that ominous 
 movement, that threatens a sudden and uncontrol 
 lable start, and pressing backward instead of going 
 into the quarry. The youth gave the leaders a 
 powerful jerk, and they plunged aside, by the path 
 they had themselves trodden, and re-entered the 
 road in the position in which they were first halt 
 ed. The sleigh was whirled from its dangerous 
 position, and upset with its runners outwards. The 
 German and the divine were thrown rather un 
 ceremoniously into the highway, but without dan 
 ger to their bones. Richard appeared in the air, 
 for a moment, describing the segment of a circle, 
 of which the reins were the radii, and was landed 
 at the distance of some fifteen feet, in that snow 
 bank which the horses had dreaded, right end up 
 permost. Here, as he instinctively grasped the 
 reins, as drowning men seize at straws, he admira 
 bly served the purpose of an anchor, to check the 
 further career of his steeds. The Frenchman, who 
 was on his legs in the act of springing from the 
 sleigh, took an aerial flight also, much in that atti 
 tude which boys assume when they play leap-frog, 
 and flying off in a tangent to the curvature of his 
 course, came into the snow-bank head-foremost, 
 where he remained, exhibiting two lathy legs on 
 
THE PIONEERS. 59 
 
 high, like scare-crows waving in a corn field. Ma 
 jor Hartmann, whose self-possession had been ad 
 mirably preserved during the whole evolution, was 
 the first of the party that gained his feet and his 
 voice. 
 
 " Ter deyvel, Richart !" he exclaimed, in a 
 voice half serious, half comical, " put you unloat 
 your sleigh very hantily." 
 
 It may be doubtful, whether the attitude in 
 which Mr. Grant continued for an instant after his 
 overthrow, was the one into which he had been 
 thrown, or was assumed, in humbling himself be 
 fore the power that he reverenced, in thanksgiving 
 at his escape. When he rose from his knees, he 
 began to gaze about him, with anxious looks, after 
 the welfare of his companions, while every joint 
 in his body was trembling with nervous agitation. 
 There was also a slight confusion in the faculties 
 of Mr. Jones, that continued for some little time ; 
 but as the mist gradually cleared from before his 
 eyes, he saw that all was safe, and with an air of 
 great self-satisfaction, he cried, " Well that was 
 neatly saved, any how it was a lucky thought in 
 me to hold on the reins, or the fiery devils w r ould 
 have been over the mountain by this time. How 
 well I recovered myself, cousin duke ! Another 
 moment would have been too late ; but I knew 
 just the spot where to touch the off-leader ; that 
 blow under his right flank, and the sudden jerk I 
 gave with the reins, brought them round quite 
 handsomely, I must own myself." 
 
 " Thou jerk ! thou recover thyself, Dickon !" 
 criei the Judge, whose fears were all vanished in 
 mirth at the discomfiture of the party ; " but for 
 that brave lad yonder, thou and thy horses, or ra 
 ther mine, would have assuredly been dashed to 
 pieces But where is Monsieur Le Quoi ?" 
 
60 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 " Oh ! mon cher Juge ! Mon ami !" cried a 
 smothered voice, " praise be God I live ; vill-a 
 you, Mister Agamemnon, be pleased come down 
 ici, and help-a me on my foot ?" 
 
 The divine and the negro seized the incarce 
 rated Gaul by his legs, and extricated him from a 
 snow-bank of three feet in depth, whence his voice 
 had sounded as from the tombs. The thoughts of 
 Mr. Le Quoi, immediately on his liberation^ were 
 not extremely collected; and when he reached the 
 light, he threw his eyes upwards, in order to exa 
 mine the distance he had fallen. His good hu 
 mour returned, however, with a knowledge of his 
 safety, though it was some little time before he 
 clearly comprehended the case. 
 
 " What, monsieur," said Richard, who was bu 
 sily assisting the black in taking off the leaders ; 
 c are you there ? I thought I saw you flying up 
 towards the top of the mountain but just now." 
 
 " Praise be God, I no fly down into de lake," 
 returned the Frenchman, with a visage that was 
 divided between pain, occasioned by a few large 
 scratches that he had received in forcing his head 
 through the crust, and the look of complaisance that 
 seemed natural to his pliable features : " ah ! mon 
 cher Mister Deeck, vat you do next ? dere be 
 noting you no try." 
 
 " The next thing, I trust, will be to learn to 
 drive," said the Judge, who had busied himself in 
 throwing the buck, together with several articles 
 of his baggage, from his own sleigh into the snow ; 
 " here are seats for you all, gentlemen ; the even 
 ing grows piercingly cold, and the hour approaches 
 for the service of Mr. Grant : we will leave friend 
 Jones to repair the damages, with the assistance of 
 Agamemnon, and hasten to a warm fire. Here, 
 Dickon, are a few articles of Bess s trumpery, that 
 
THE PIONEERS. 61 
 
 you can throw into your sleigh when ready, and 
 there is also a deer of my taking, that I will thank 
 you to bring Aggy ! remember there will be a 
 visit from Santaclaus to your stocking to-night, if 
 you are smart and careful about the buck, and get 
 in in season." 
 
 The black grinned with the consciousness of the 
 bribe that was thus offered him for his silence on 
 the subject of the deer, while Richard, without in 
 the least waiting for the termination of his cousin s 
 speech, at once began his reply 
 
 " Learn to drive, sayest thou, cousin duke ? Is 
 there a man in the county who knows more of 
 horse-flesh than myself? Who broke in the filly, 
 that no one else dare mount ? though your coach 
 man did pretend that he had tamed her before 1 
 took her in hand, but any body could see that he 
 lied he was a great liar, that John what s that, 
 a buck ?" Richard abandoned the horses, and ran 
 to the spot w T here Marmaduke had thrown the 
 deer : cc It is a buck indeed ! I am. amazed ! Yes, 
 here are two holes in him ; he has fired both bar 
 rels, and hit him each time. Ecod ! how Marma 
 duke will brag ! he is a prodigious bragger about 
 any small matter like this now ; well, well, to think 
 that duke has killed a buck before Christmas 
 There will be no such thing as living with him 
 they are both bad shots though, mere chance 
 mere chance ; now, I never fired twice at a clo 
 ven hoof in my life ; it is hit or miss with me 
 dead or runaway : had it been a bear, or a wild 
 cat, a man might have wanted both barrels. Here ! 
 you Aggy ! how far off was the Judge when this 
 buck was shot ?" 
 
 " Eh ! Massa Richard, may be a ten rod," cried 
 the black, bending under one of the horses, with 
 the oretence of fastening a buckle, but in reality 
 6 
 
62 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 to conceal the broad grin that opened a mouth 
 from ear to ear. 
 
 " Ten rod !" echoed the other ; " why, Aggy, 
 the deer I killed last winter was at twenty yes ! 
 if any thing it was nearer thirty than twenty. 1 
 wouldn t shoot at a deer at ten rod : besides, you 
 may remember, Aggy, I only fired once." 
 
 " Yes, Massa Richard," I member em ! Natty 
 Bumppo fire t oder gun. You know, sir, the folk 
 say, Natty kill em." 
 
 " The folks lie, you black devil !" exclaimed 
 Richard in great heat. " I have not shot even a 
 gray squirrel these four years, to which that old 
 rascal has not laid claim, or some one for him. 
 This is a damn d envious world that we live in 
 people are always for dividing the credit of a thing, 
 in order to bring down merit to their own level. 
 Now they have a story about the Patent, that Hi 
 ram Doolittle helped to plan the steeple to St. 
 Paul s ; when Hiram knows that it is entirely 
 mine ; a little taken from a print of its namesake 
 in London, I own ; but all the rest is mine." 
 
 " I don t know where he come from," said the 
 black, losing every mark of humour in an expres 
 sion of deep admiration, " but eb ry body say, he 
 wonnerful hansom e." 
 
 " And well they may say so, Aggy," cried Ri 
 chard, leaving the buck and walking up to the ne 
 gro with the air of a man who has new interest 
 awakened within him. " I think I may say, with 
 out bragging, that it is the handsomest and the 
 most scientific country church in America. I know 
 that the Connecticut settlers talk about their Wea- 
 thersfield meeting-house ; but I never believe more 
 than half of what they say, they are such uncon* 
 scionable braggers. Just as you have got a thing 
 done, if they see it likely to be successful, they 
 
THE PIONEERS. 63 
 
 are always for interfering ; and then it s ten to one 
 but they lay claim to half, or even all of the credit. 
 You may remember, Aggy, when I painted the 
 sign of the bold dragoon for Captain Hollister, 
 there was that fellow, who was about town laying 
 brick dust on the houses, came one day and offered 
 to mix what I call the streaky black, for the tail 
 and mane, and then, because it looks just like 
 horse hair, he tells every body that the sign was 
 painted by himself and Squire Jones. If Marma- 
 duke don t send that fellow off the Patent, he may 
 ornament his village with his own hands, for me." 
 Here Richard paused a moment, and cleared his 
 throat by a loud hem, while the negro, who was 
 all this time busily engaged in preparing their 
 sleigh, proceeded with his work in respectful si 
 lence. Owing to the religious scruples of the 
 Judge, Aggy was the servant of Richard, who had 
 his services for a time, and who, of course, com 
 manded a legal claim to the respect of the young 
 negro. But when any dispute between his lawful 
 master and his real benefactor occurred, the black 
 felt too much deference for both to express any 
 opinion. In the mean while, Richard continued 
 watching the negro as he fastened buckle after 
 buckle, until, stealing a look of consciousness to 
 ward the other, he continued, " Now, if that young 
 man, who was in your sleigh, is a real Connecticut 
 settler, he will be telling every body how he saved 
 my horses, when, if he had just let them alone for 
 one half a minute longer, I would have brought 
 them in much better, without upsetting, with the 
 whip and rein it spoils a horse to give him his 
 head. I should not wonder if I had to sell the 
 whole team, just for that one jerk that he gave 
 them." Richard again paused, and again hem 
 med ; for his conscience smote him a little, for 
 
G4 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 censuring a man who had just saved his life 
 " Who is the lad, Aggy I don t remember to have 
 seen him before ?" 
 
 The black recollected the hint about Santaclaus; 
 and while he briefly explained how they had taken 
 him on the top of the mountain, he forbore to add 
 any thing concerning the acpident of the wound, 
 only saying, that he believed the youth was a stran 
 ger. It was so usual for men of the first rank to 
 take into their sleighs any one whom they found 
 toiling through the snow, that Richard was per 
 fectly satisfied with this explanation. He heard 
 Aggy, with great attention, and then remarked, 
 " Well, if the lad has not been spoiled by the 
 people in Templeton, he may be a modest young 
 man, and as he certainly meant well, I shall take 
 some notice of him perhaps he is land-hunting I 
 say, Aggy may be he is out hunting ?" 
 
 " Eh ! yes, massa Richard," said the black, a 
 little confused ; for as Richard did all the flogging, 
 he stood in great terror of his master, in the main 
 " yes, sir, I b lieve he be." 
 
 " Had he a pack and an axe ?" 
 
 " No, sir, only he rifle." 
 
 " Rifle !" exclaimed Richard, observing the con 
 fusion of the negro, which now amounted to ter 
 ror. " By Jove ! he killed the deer. I knew that 
 Marmaduke couldn t kill a buck on the jump 
 How was it, Aggy ? tell me all about it, and I ll 
 roast duke quicker than he can roast his saddle 
 How was it, Aggy ? the lad shot the buck, and the 
 Judge bought it, ha ! and is taking him down to 
 get the pay ?" 
 
 The pleasure of this discovery had put Richard 
 in such a good humour, that the negro s fears in 
 some measure vanished, and he remembered the 
 
THE PIONEERS. 65 
 
 stocking. After a gulp or two, he made out to re- 
 
 p ] y- 
 
 " You forgit a two shot, sir ?" 
 
 " Don t lie, you black rascal !" cried Richard, 
 stepping on the snow-bank to measure the distance 
 from his long lash to the negro s back ; " speak 
 the truth, or I ll trounce you." While speaking, 
 the stock was slowly rising in Richard s right hand 
 and the lash drawing through his left, in the scien 
 tine manner with which drummers apply the cat. 
 and Agamemnon, after turning each side of him 
 self towards his master, and finding all equally un 
 willing to remain there, forgetful of his great name, 
 fairly gave in. In a very few words he made his 
 master acquainted with the truth, at the same time 
 earnestly conjuring Richard to protect him from 
 the displeasure of the Judge. 
 
 " I ll do it, boy, I ll do it," cried the other, rub- 
 bing his hands with delight ; " say nothing, but 
 leave me to manage duke I have adamn d great 
 mind to leave the deer on the hill, and to make 
 the fellow send for his own carcass : but no, I wiD 
 let Marmaduke tell a few bouncers about it before 
 I come out upon him. Come, hurry in, Aggjr, I 
 must help to dress the lad s wound ; this Yankee 
 doctor knows nothing of surgery I had to hold 
 old Milligan s leg for him, while he cut it off." 
 Richard was now seated on the stool again, and 
 the black taking the hind seat, the steeds were put 
 in motion towards home. As they dashed down 
 the hill, on a fast trot, the driver occasionally turn 
 ed his face to Aggy, and continued speaking ; for 
 notwithstanding their recent rupture, the most 
 perfect cordiality was again existing between them. 
 " This goes to prove that I turned the horses with 
 the reins, for no man who is shot in the right 
 shoulder, can have strength enough to bring round 
 
66 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 such obstinate devils. I knew I did it from the 
 first ; but I did not want to multiply words with 
 Marmaduke about it Will you bite, you villain ? 
 hip, boys, hip ! Old Natty too, that is the best of 
 it Well, well duke will say no more about my 
 deer and the Judge fired both barrels, and hit 
 nothing but a poor lad, who was behind a pine- 
 tree. I must help that quack to take out the buck 
 shot for the poor fellow." In this manner Ri 
 chard descended the mountain ; the bells ringing, 
 and his tongue going, until they entered the vil 
 lage, when the whole attention of the driver was 
 devoted to a display of his horsemanship, to the 
 admiration of all the gaping women and children 
 who thronged the windows to witness the arrival 
 of their tondlord and his daughter. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 Nathaniol s coat, sir, was not fully made, 
 And Gabriel s pumps were all unfinished i tfa heel; 
 There was no link to colour Peter s hat, 
 And Walter s dagger was not come from sheathing : 
 There were none fine, but Adam, Ralph, and Gregory 
 Shakspeare. 
 
 AFTER winding along the side of the mountain, 
 the road, on reaching the gentle declivity which 
 lay at the base of the hill, turned at a right angle 
 to its former course, and shot down an inclined 
 plane, directly into the village of Templeton. The 
 rapid little stream, that we have already mention 
 ed, was crossed by a bridge of hewn timber, which 
 manifested, by its rude construction, and the unne 
 cessary size of its frame-work, both the value of 
 labour and the abundance of materials. This little 
 torrent, whose dark waters gushed in mimic tur 
 bulence over the limestones that lined its bottom, 
 was nothing less than one of the many sources of 
 the Susquehanna ; a river, to which the Atlantic 
 herself has extended her right arm, to welcome 
 ?nto her bosom. It was at this point, that the 
 powerful team of Mr. Jones brought him up to the 
 more sober steeds of our travellers. A small hill 
 was risen, and the astonished Elizabeth found 
 herself at once amid the incongruous dwellings 
 of the village. The street was laid out of the 
 width of an ordinary avenue to a city, notwith- 
 
68 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 standing that the eye might embrace, in one view 
 thousands, and tens of thousands of acres, that 
 were yet tenanted only by the beasts of the forest. 
 But such had been the will of her father, and such 
 had also met the wishes of his followers. To them, 
 the road, that made the most rapid approaches to 
 the condition of the old, or, as they expressed it, 
 the down countries, was the most pleasant ; and 
 surely nothing could look more like civilization 
 than a city, even if it lay in a wilderness ! The 
 width of the street, for so it was called, might have 
 been one hundred feet; but the track for the 
 sleighs was much more limited. On either side 
 of the highway were piled before the houses huge 
 heaps of logs, that were daily increasing rather 
 than diminishing in size, notwithstanding the enor 
 mous fires that might be seen lighting every win 
 dow through the dusk of the evening. 
 
 The last object at which Elizabeth had gazed 
 when they renewed their journey, after the ren 
 contre with Richard, was the sun, as it expanded 
 in the refraction of the horizon, and over whose 
 disk the dark umbrage of a pine was stealing, while 
 it slowly sunk behind the western hills. But his 
 setting rays darted along the openings of the moun 
 tain she was on, and lighted the shining covering 
 of the birches, until their smooth and glossy coats 
 nearly rivalled the mountain-sides in colour. The 
 outline of each dark pine was delineated far in the 
 depths of the forest ; and the rocks, too smooth 
 and too perpendicular to retain the snow that had 
 fallen, brightened, as if smiling in scorn at the 
 changes in the season. But at each step, as they 
 descended, Elizabeth observed that they were 
 leaving the day behind them. Even the heartless, 
 but bright rays of a December sun were missed, 
 as they glided into the cold gloom of the valley- 
 
THE PIONEERS. 69 
 
 Along the summits of the mountains in the eastern 
 range, it is true, that the light still lingered, reced 
 ing step by step from the earth into the few clouds 
 that were gathering, with the evening mist, about 
 the limited horizon ; but the frozen lake lay with 
 out a shadow on its chill bosom; the dwellings 
 were becoming already gloomy and indistinct ; and 
 the wood-cutters were shouldering their axes, and 
 preparing to enjoy, throughout the long evening 
 before them, the comforts of those exhilarating 
 fires that their labour had been supplying with fuel. 
 They paused only to gaze at the passing sleighs, 
 to lift their caps to Marmaduke, to exchange fa 
 miliar nods with Richard, and each disappeared in 
 his dwelling. The paper curtains dropped behind 
 our travellers in every window, shutting from the 
 air even the fire-light of their cheerful apartments ; 
 and when the horses of her father turned, with a 
 rapid whirl, into the open gate of the mansion- 
 house, and nothing stood before her but the cold, 
 dreary stone-walls of the building, as she approach 
 ed them through an avenue of young and leafless 
 poplars, Elizabeth felt as if all the loveliness of the 
 mountain-view had vanished like the fancies of a 
 dream. Marmaduke retained so much of his early 
 habits as to reject the use of bells, but the equi 
 page of Mr. Jones came dashing through the gate 
 after them, sending its jingling sounds through 
 every cranny in the building, and in a moment the 
 dwelling was in an uproar. 
 
 On a stone platform, of rather small proportions, 
 considering the size of the building, Richard and 
 Hiram had, conjointly, reared four little columns 
 of wood, which in their turn supported the shingled 
 roofs of the portico this was the name that Mr. 
 Jones had thought proper to give to a very plain, 
 covered entrance to the mansion. The ascent to 
 
70 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 the platform was by five or six stone steps, some 
 what hastily laid together, in which the frost had 
 already begun to move from their symmetrical po 
 sitions. But the evils of a cold climate, and a su 
 perficial construction, did not end here. As the 
 steps lowered, the platform necessarily fell also, 
 and the foundations actually left the superstructure 
 suspended in the air, leaving an open space of a 
 foot from the base of the pillars to the bases on 
 which they had originally been placed. It was 
 lucky for the whole fabric, that the carpenter, who 
 did the manual part of the labour, had fastened the 
 canopy of this classic entrance so firmly to the side 
 of the house, that, when the base deserted the su 
 perstructure in the manner we have described, and 
 the pillars, for the want of a foundation, were no 
 longer of service to support the roof, the roof was 
 able to uphold the pillars. Here was indeed an 
 unfortunate gap left in the ornamental part of Ri 
 chard s column ; but like the window in Aladdin s 
 palace, it seemed only left in order to prove the 
 fertility of its master s resources. The composite 
 order again offered its advantages, and a second 
 edition of the base was given, as the booksellers 
 say, with additions and improvements. It was ne 
 cessarily larger, and it was properly ornamented 
 with mouldings : still the steps continued to yield, 
 and, at the moment when Elizabeth returned to 
 her father s door, a few rough wedges were driven 
 under the pillars to keep them steady, and to pre 
 vent their weight from separating them from the 
 pediment which they ought to have supported 
 
 From the great door, which opened into the 
 porch, emerged two or three female domestics, and 
 one male. The latter was bare-headed, but evi 
 dently more dressed than usual, and in the whole, 
 was of so singular a formation and attire, as to de- 
 
THE PIONEERS. 71 
 
 serve a more minute description. He was about 
 five feet in height, of a square and athletic frame, 
 with a pair of shoulders that would have fitted a 
 grenadier. His low stature was rendered the more 
 striking by a bend forward that he was in the habit 
 of assuming, for no apparent reason, unless it might 
 be in order to give a greater freedom to his arms, 
 in a particularly sweeping swing, that they con 
 stantly practised when their master was in motion. 
 His face was long, of a fair complexion, burnt to a 
 fiery red ; with a snub nose, cocked into an inve 
 terate pug ; a mouth of enormous dimensions, filled 
 with fine teeth ; and a pair of blue eyes, that 
 seemed to look about them, on surrounding objects, 
 with vast contempt. His head composed full one- 
 fourth of his whole length, and the queue that de 
 pended from its rear occupied another. He wore 
 a coat of very light drab cloth, with buttons as 
 large as dollars, bearing the impression of a " foul 
 anchor." The skirts were extremely long, reach 
 ing quite to the calf, and were broad in proportion. 
 Beneath, there were a vest and breeches of red 
 plush, somewhat worn and soiled. He had shoes 
 with large buckles, and stockings of blue and white 
 stripes. 
 
 This odd-looking figure reported himself to be 
 a native of the county of Cornwall, in the island 
 of Great Britain. His boyhood had passed in the 
 neighbourhood of the tin mines, and his youth as 
 the cabin-boy of a smuggler, between Falmouth 
 and Guernsey. From this trade he was impressed 
 into the service of his king, and, for the want of a 
 better, had been taken into the cabin, first as a 
 servant, and finally as steward to the captain. 
 Here he acquired the art of making chowder, lob- 
 skous, and one or two other sea-dishes, and, as he 
 was fond of saying, had an opportunity of seeing 
 
72 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 the world. With the exception of one or two out- 
 ports in France, and an occasional visit to Ports 
 mouth, Plymouth, and Deal, he had in reality seen 
 no more of mankind, however, than if he had been 
 riding a donkey in one of his native mines. But, 
 being discharged from the navy at the peace of S3, 
 he declared, that, as he had seen all the civilized 
 parts of the world, he was inclined to a trip to the 
 wilds of America. We will not trace him in his 
 brief wanderings, under the influence of that spirit 
 of emigration, that sometimes induces a dapper 
 Cockney to quit his home, and lands him, before 
 the sound of Bow bells is fairly out of his ears, 
 within the roar of the cataract of Niagara, but shall 
 only add, that, at a very early day, even before 
 Elizabeth had been sent to school, he had found 
 his way into the family of Marmaduke Temple, 
 where, owing to a combination of qualities, he 
 held, under Mr. Jones, the office of major-domo, 
 The name of this worthy was Benjamin Penguil- 
 lan, according to his own pronunciation ; but, ow 
 ing to a marvellous tale that he was in the habit 
 of relating, concerning the length of time he had 
 to labour to keep his ship from sinking after Rod 
 ney s victory, he had universally acquired the nick 
 name of Ben Pump. 
 
 By the side of Benjamin, and pressing forward 
 as if a little jealous of her station, stood a middle- 
 aged woman, dressed in calico, rather violently 
 contrasted in colour, with a tall, meager, shapeless 
 figure, sharp features, and a somewhat acute ex 
 pression in her physiognomy. Her teeth were 
 mostly gone, and what did remain were of a light 
 yellow. The skin of her nose was drawn tightly 
 over the member, and then suffered to hang in 
 large wrinkles in her cheeks and about her mouth. 
 She took snuff in such large quantities, as to ere- 
 
THE PIONEERS. 73 
 
 ate the impression, that she owed the saffron of 
 her lips and the adjacent parts, to this circum 
 stance ; but it was the unvarying colour of her 
 whole face. She presided over the female part of 
 the domestic arrangements, in the capacity of house 
 keeper ; was a spinster, and bore the name of Re 
 markable Pettibone. To Elizabeth she was an 
 entire stranger, having been introduced into the 
 family since the death of her mother. 
 
 In addition to these, were three or four subor 
 dinate menials, mostly black, some appearing at 
 the principal door, and some running from the end 
 of the building, where stood the entrance to the 
 cellar-kitchen. 
 
 Besides these, there was a general rush from 
 Richard s kennel, accompanied with every canine 
 tone, from the howl of the wolf-dog to the petu 
 lant bark of the terrier. The master received 
 their boisterous salutations with a variety of imi 
 tations from his own throat, when the dogs, pro 
 bably from shame at being outdone, ceased their 
 outcry. One stately, powerful mastiff, who wore 
 around his neck a brass collar, with " M. T." en 
 graved in large letters on the rim, alone was si 
 lent. He walked majestically, amid the confusion, 
 to the side of the Judge, where, receiving a kind 
 pat or two, he turned to Elizabeth, w r ho even 
 stooped to kiss him, as she called him kindly by the 
 name of " Old Brave." The animal seemed to 
 know her, as she ascended the steps, supported by 
 Monsieur Le Quoi and her father, in order to pro 
 tect her from falling on the ice, with which they 
 were covered. He looked wistfully after her 
 figure, and when the door closed on the whole 
 party, he laid himself in a kennel that was placed 
 nigh by, as if conscious that the house contained 
 something of additional value to guard. 
 
74 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 Elizabeth followed her father, who paused mo 
 ment to whisper a message to one o his dt/mes- 
 tics, into a large hall, that was dimly lighted by 
 two candles, placed in high, old-fashioned, brass 
 candlesticks. The door closed, and the party were 
 at once removed from an atmosphere that was 
 nearly at zero, to one of sixty degrees above. In 
 the centre of the hall stood an enormous stove, the 
 sides of which appeared to be quivering with the 
 heat it emitted ; from which a large, straight pipe, 
 leading through the ceiling above, carried off the 
 smoke. An iron basin, containing water, was 
 placed on this furnace, for such only it could be 
 called, in order to preserve a proper humidity in 
 the apartment. The room was carpeted, and fur 
 nished with convenient, substantial furniture, of a 
 great variety in its appearance and materials ; some 
 of which was brought from the city, and the re 
 mainder manufactured by the mechanics of Tem- 
 pleton. There was a sideboard of mahogany, in 
 laid w r ith ivory, and bearing enormous handles of 
 glittering brass, and groaning under piles of silver 
 plate. Near it stood a set of prodigious tables, 
 made of the wild cherry, to imitate tlje imported 
 wood of the sideboard, but plain, and without or 
 nament of any kind. Opposite to these stood a 
 smaller table, formed from a lighter coloured wood, 
 through the grains of which the wavy lines of the 
 curled-maple of the mountains were undulating in 
 precise regularity. Near to this, in a corner, stood 
 a heavy, old-fashioned, brass-faced clock, encased 
 in a high box, with the dark hue of the black-wal 
 nut from the seashore. An enormous settee, or 
 sofa, covered with light chintz, stretched along the 
 walls for near twenty feet on one skie of the hall, 
 and chairs of wood, painted a light yellow, with 
 black lines that were drawn by no very steady 
 
THE PIONEERS. 75 
 
 hand, were ranged opposite, and in the .ntervals 
 between the other pieces of furniture. A Fahren 
 heit s thermometer, in a mahogany case, and with 
 a barometer annexed, was hung against the wall, 
 at some little distance from the stove, which Ben 
 jamin consulted, every half-hour, with prodigious 
 veneration. Two small glass chandeliers were 
 suspended at equal distances between the stove 
 and the outer doors, one of which opened at either 
 end of the hall, and gilt lustres were affixed to the 
 frame-work of the numerous side doors that led 
 from the apartment. Some little display in archi 
 tecture had been made in constructing these 
 frames and casings, which were surmounted with 
 pediments, that bore each a little pedestal in its 
 centre. On these pedestals were small busts in 
 blacked plaster of Paris. The style of the pedes 
 tals, as well as the selection of the busts, had been 
 executed under the auspices of Mr. Jones. On 
 one stood Homer, a most striking likeness, Richard 
 affirmed, " as any one might see, for it was blind." 
 Another bore the image of a smooth visaged gen 
 tleman, with a pointed beard, whom he called 
 Shakspeare. A third ornament was an urn, which, 
 from its shape, Richard was accustomed to say, 
 intended to represent itself as holding the ashes 
 of Dido A fourth was certainly old Franklin, in 
 his cap and spectacles. A filth as surely bore the 
 dignified composure of the face of Washington. A 
 sixth was a non descript, representing "a man 
 with a shirt-collar open," to use the language of 
 Richard, " with a laurel on hie head ; it was Ju 
 lius Caesar or Dr. Faustus ; there were good rea 
 sons for believing either." 
 
 The walls were hung with a dark, lead-coloured 
 English paper, that represented Britannia weeping 
 ov^r the tomb of Wolfe. The hero himself stood 
 
76 THE PIONSERS. 
 
 at a little distance from the mourning goddess, at 
 the edge of the paper. Each width contained the 
 figure, with the slight exception of one arm of the 
 General running over on to the next piece, so that 
 when Richard essayed, with his own hands, to put 
 together this delicate outline, some difficulties oc 
 curred, that prevented a nice conjunction, and 
 Britannia had reason to lament, in addition to the 
 loss of her favourite s life, numberless cruel ampu 
 tations of his right arm. 
 
 The luckless cause of these unnatural divisions 
 announced his presence in the hall by a loud crack 
 of his whip, that startled the party, and his voice 
 was first heard, exclaiming 
 
 " Why, Benjamin ! you Ben Pump ! is this the 
 manner in which you receive the heiress ? Excuse 
 him, cousin Elizabeth. The arrangements were 
 too delicate and nice to be trusted to every one : 
 but now I am here, things will go on better. Come, 
 light up, Mr. Penguillan, light up, light up, and 
 let us see one another s faces. Well, duke, I 
 have brought home your deer; what is to be done 
 with it, ha ?" 
 
 " By the lord, Squire," commenced Benjamin 
 in reply, first giving his mouth a wipe with the 
 back of his hand, " if this here thing had been or 
 dered sum at earlier in the day, it might have been 
 got up, d ye see, to your liking. I had mustered 
 all hands, and was exercising candles, when you 
 hove in sight ; but when the women heard your 
 bells, they started an end, as if they were riding 
 the boatswain s colt ; and, if-so-be there is that 
 man in the house, who can bring up a parcel of 
 women when they have got headway on them, un 
 til they ve run out the end of their rope, his name 
 is not Benjamin Pump. But Miss Betsy here must 
 have altered more than a privateer in disguise. 
 
THE PIONEERS. 77 
 
 since she has got on her woman s duds, if she will 
 go to take offence with an old fellow, for the small 
 matter of lighting a few candles." 
 
 Elizabeth and her father continued silent, for 
 both experienced the same sensations on entering 
 the hall. The former had resided one year in the 
 building before she left home for the school, and 
 the figure of its late lamented mistress was missed 
 by both the husband and the child. 
 
 But candles had been placed in the chandeliers 
 and lustres, and the attendants were so far reco 
 vered from their surprise as to recollect their use : 
 the oversight was immediately remedied, and in a 
 minute the apartment was in a blaze of light. 
 
 The slight melancholy of our heroine and her 
 father was banished by this brilliant interruption ; 
 and the whole party began to lay aside the num 
 berless garments that they had worn in the air. 
 
 During this operation, Richard kept up a desul 
 tory dialogue with the different domestics, occa 
 sionally throwing out a remark to the Judge con 
 cerning the deer; but as his conversation at 
 such moments was much like an accompaniment 
 on a piano, a thing that is heard without being at 
 tended to, we will not undertake the task of re 
 cording his wonderfully diffuse discourse. 
 
 The instant that Remarkable Pettibone had exe 
 cuted her portion of the labour in illuminating, she 
 returned to a position near Elizabeth, with the ap 
 parent motive of receiving the clothes that the 
 other threw aside, but in reality to examine, with 
 an air of mingled curiosity and jealousy, the ap 
 pearance of the lady who was to supplant her in 
 the administration of their domestic economy. The 
 housekeeper felt a little appalled, when, after 
 cloaks, coats, shawls, and socks had been taken off 
 in succession, the large black hood was removed, 
 7* 
 
78 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 and the dark ringlets, shining like the raven s wing, 
 fell from her head, and left the sweet but com 
 manding features of the young lady exposed to 
 view. Nothing could be fairer and more spotless 
 than the forehead of Elizabeth, and preserve the 
 appearance of life and health. Her nose would 
 have been called Grecian, but for a softly round 
 ed swell, that gave in character to the feature what 
 it lost in beauty. Her mouth, at first sight, seem 
 ed only made for love ; but the instant that its 
 muscles moved, every expression that womanly 
 dignity could utter played around it with the 
 flexibility of female grace. It spoke not only to 
 the ear, but to the eye. So much, added to a form 
 of exquisite proportions, rather full and rounded 
 for her years, and of the tallest medium height, 
 she inherited from her mother. Even the colour 
 of her eye, the arched brows, and the long silken 
 lashes, came from the same source ; but its expres 
 sion was her father s. Inert and composed, it was 
 soft, benevolent, and attractive ; but it could be 
 roused, and that without much difficulty. At such 
 moments it was still beautiful, though it was beau 
 ty in its grandeur. As the last shawl fell aside, 
 and she stood dressed in a rich blue riding-habit, 
 that fitted her form with the nicest exactness ; her 
 cheeks burning with roses, that bloomed the riches 
 for the heat of the hall, and her eyes slightly suf 
 fused with moisture, that rendered their ordinary 
 beauty more dazzling, and with every feature of 
 her speaking countenance illuminated by the lights 
 that flared around her, Remarkable felt that her 
 own power had ended. 
 
 The business of unrobing had been simultaneous 
 Marmaduke appeared in a suit of plain neat black ; 
 Monsieur Le Quoi, in a coat of snuff colour, cover 
 ing a vest of embroidery, with breeches, and silk 
 
THE PIONEERS. 79 
 
 stockings, and buckles that were commonly 
 thought to be of paste. Major Hurtmann wore a 
 coat of sky-blue, with large brass buttons, a club 
 wig, and boots ; and Mr. Richard Jones had set 
 off his dapper little form in a frock of bottle-green, 
 with ballet buttons ; by one of which the sides 
 were united over his well-rounded waist, opening 
 above, so as to show a jacket of red cloth, with an 
 under-vest of flannel, faced with green velvet, and 
 below, so as to exhibit a pair of buckskin breeches, 
 with long, soiled, white-top boots, and spurs ; one 
 of the latter a little bent, from its recent attacks on 
 the unfortunate stool. 
 
 When the young lady had extricated herself 
 from the duresse of her garments, she was at liber 
 ty to gaze about her, and to examine not only the 
 household over which she was to preside, but also 
 the air and manner in which their domestic ar 
 rangements were conducted. Although there was 
 much incongruity in the furniture and appearance 
 of the hall, there was nothing mean. The floor 
 was carpeted, even in its remotest corners. The 
 brass candlesticks, the gilt lustres, and the glass 
 chandeliers, whatever might be their keeping as to 
 propriety and taste, were admirably kept as to 
 all the purposes of use and comfort. They were 
 all clean, and each glittering, in the strong light of 
 the apartment, with its peculiar lustre. Compared 
 with the chill aspect of the December night with 
 out, the warmth and brilliancy of the apartment 
 produced an effect that was* not unlike enchant 
 ment. Her eye had not time to detect in detail the 
 little errors, which, in truth, existed, but was glan 
 cing around her in delight, when an object arrester, 
 her view, that was strongly contrasted to the smil 
 ing faces and neatly attired personages who had thus 
 assembled to do honour to the heiress of Templeton 
 
80 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 In a corner of the hall, near to the grand en 
 trance, stood the young hunter, unnoticed, and for 
 the moment apparently forgotten. But even the 
 forgetfulness of the Judge, which, under the influ 
 ence of strong emotion, had banished the recollec 
 tion of the wound of this stranger, seemed surpass 
 ed by the absence of mind in the youth himself. 
 On entering the apartment he had mechanically 
 lifted his cap, and exposed a head, covered with 
 hair that rivalled in colour and gloss the locks of 
 Elizabeth. Nothing could have wrought a greater 
 transformation, than the single act of removing the 
 rough fox-skin cap. If there was much that was 
 prepossessing in the countenance of the young 
 hunter, there was something noble in the rounded 
 outlines of his head and brow. The very air and 
 manner with which the member haughtily main 
 tained itself over the coarse and even wild attire, 
 in which the rest of his frame was clad, bespoke 
 not only familiarity with a splendour that in those 
 new settlements was thought to be unequalled, but 
 something very like contempt also. 
 
 The hand that held the cap rested lightly on 
 the little ivory-mounted piano of Elizabeth, with 
 neither rustic restraint, nor obtrusive vulgarity. 
 A single finger touched the instrument, as if ac 
 customed to dwell on such places. His other arm 
 was extended to its utmost length, and the hand 
 grasped the barrel of his long rifle, with something 
 like convulsive energy. The act and the attitude 
 were both involuntary, and evidently proceeded 
 from a feeling much deeper than that of vulgar sur 
 prise. His appearance, connected as it was with 
 the rough exterior of his dress, rendered him en 
 tirely distinct from the busy group that were mov 
 ing across the other end of the long hall, occupied 
 in receiving the travellers, and exchanging then 
 
THE PIONEERS. SI 
 
 welcomes ; and Elizabeth, herself as much an ob 
 ject to be looked at by others, continued to gaze 
 at him in a kind of stupid wonder. The contrac 
 tion of the stranger s brows increased, as his eyes 
 moved slowly from one object to another. For 
 moments the expression of his countenance was 
 fierce, and then again it seemed to pass away in 
 some painful emotion. The arm, that was extend 
 ed, bent, and brought the hand nigh to his face, 
 when his head dropped upon it, and concealed the 
 wonderfully speaking lineaments of his features. 
 
 " We forget, dear sir, the strange gentleman," 
 (for her life Elizabeth could not call him other 
 wise,) " whom we have brought here for assist 
 ance, and to whom we owe every attention." 
 
 All eyes were instantly turned in the direction 
 of those of the speaker, and the youth, rather 
 proudly, elevated his head again, while he an 
 swered 
 
 " My wound is trifling, and I believe that Judge 
 Temple sent for a physician the moment we ar- 
 lived." 
 
 " Certainly," said Marmaduke ; " I have not for 
 gotten the object of thy visit, young man, nor the 
 nature of my debt to thee." 
 
 " Oh !" exclaimed Richard, with something of 
 a waggish leer, " thou owest the lad for the veni 
 son, I suppose, that thou killed, cousin duke ! Mar 
 maduke ! Marmaduke ! That was a marvellous 
 tale of thine about the buck ! Here, young man, 
 are two dollars for the deer, and Judge Temple 
 can do no less than pay the doctor. I shall charge 
 you nothing for my services, but you shall not fare 
 the worse for that. Come, come, duke, don t be 
 down-hearted about it ; if you missed the buck, 
 you contrived to shoot this poor fellcw through a 
 
82 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 pine-tree, Now I own that you have beat me j 
 1 never did such a thing in all my life." 
 
 " And I hope never will," returned the Judge, 
 " if you are to experience the uneasiness that I 
 have suffered. But be of good cheer, my young 
 friend, the injury must be but small, as thou movest 
 thy arm with apparent freedom." 
 
 " Don t make the matter worse, duke, by pre 
 tending to talk about surgery," interrupted Mr. 
 Jones, with a contemptuous wave of the hand ; 
 " it is a science that can only be learnt by practice. 
 You know that my grandfather was a doctor, but 
 you haven t got a drop of medical blood in your 
 veins ; these kind of things run in families. All my 
 family by the father s side had a knack at physic. 
 There was my uncle that was killed at Brandy- 
 wine, he died twice as easy as any other man in 
 the regiment, only from knowing how to do the 
 thing as it ought to be done." 
 
 " I doubt not, Dickon," returned the Judge 
 playfully, after meeting the bright smile, which, in 
 spite of himself, stole over the stranger s features, 
 " that thy family understood the art of letting a life 
 slip through their fingers with great facility." 
 
 Richard heard him quite coolly, and putting a 
 hand in either pocket of his surtout, so as to press 
 forward the skirts with an air of vast disdain, be 
 gan to whistle a tune ; but the desire to reply over 
 came his philosophy, and with great heat he ex 
 claimed 
 
 " You may affect to smile, Judge Temple, at he 
 reditary virtues, if you please ; but there is not a 
 man on your Patent who don t know better. Here, 
 even this young man, who -has never seen any 
 thing but bears, and deers, and wood-chucks, knows 
 better than not to believe in virtues being trans 
 mitted down in families. Don t you, friend ?" 
 
THE PIONEERS. 83 
 
 u 1 believe that vice is not," said the stranger 
 abruptly, his eye glancing keenly from the father 
 to the daughter. 
 
 " The Squire is right, Judge," observed Benja 
 min with a knowing nod of his head towards Ri 
 chard, that bespoke the cordiality beiween them. 
 " Now, in the old country, the King s Majesty 
 touches for the evil, and that is a disorder that the 
 greatest doctor in the fleet, or, for the matter of 
 that, admiral either, can t cure ; only the King s 
 Majesty, or a man that s been hung. Oh ! yes, the 
 Squire is right, for if so be that he wasn t, how is 
 it that the seventh son always is a doctor, whether 
 he ships for the cock-pit or not ? Now, when we 
 fell in with the mounsheers, under De Grasse, d ye 
 see, we had aboard of us a doctor " 
 
 " Very well, Benjamin," interrupted Elizabeth, 
 glancing her eyes from the hunter to Monsieur Le 
 Quoi, who was most politely attending to what fell 
 from each individual in succession, " you shall tell 
 me of that, and all your entertaining adventures to 
 gether; just now, a room must be prepared, in 
 which the arm of this gentleman can be dressed." 
 
 " 1 will attend to that myself, cousin Elizabeth," 
 observed Richard, somewhat haughtily. " The 
 young man shall not suffer, because Marmaduke 
 chooses to be a little obstinate. Follow me, my 
 friend, and I will examine the hurt myself." 
 
 cc It will be well to wait for the physician," said 
 the hunter coldly ; " he cannot be distant ; I will 
 save you the trouble." 
 
 Richard paused, and looked earnestly at the 
 speaker, a little astonished at the language, and a 
 good deal appalled at the refusal. He instantly 
 construed the latter into an act of hostility, and 
 placing his hands in the pockets again, he walked 
 up to Mr. Grant, and putting his face close to 
 
84 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 the countenance of the divine, he said in an under 
 tone 
 
 " Now mark my words : there will be a story 
 among the settlers, that all our necks would have 
 been broken, but for that fellow there as if I did 
 not know how to drive. Why, you might have 
 turned the horses yourself, sir; nothing was ea 
 sier ; it was only pulling hard on the nigh rein, 
 and touching the off flank of the leader. I hope, 
 my dear sir, you are not at all hurt by the upset 
 the lad gave us ?" 
 
 The reply was interrupted by the entrance of 
 the village physician. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 -And about his shelves, 
 
 A beggarly account of empty boxes, 
 Green earthen pots, bladders, and musty seeds, 
 Remnants of pack-thread, and old cakes of roses, 
 Were thinly scattered to make up a show. 
 
 Shakspcare. 
 
 DOCTOR ELNATHAN TODD, for such was the un 
 worthy name of the man of physic, was commonly 
 thought to be, among the settlers, a gentleman of 
 great mental endowments ; and he was assuredly 
 of rare personal proportions. In height he mea 
 sured, without his shoes, exactly six feet and four 
 inches. His hands, feet, and knees, corresponded 
 in every respect with this formidable stature ; but 
 every other part of his frame appeared to have been 
 intended for a man several sizes smaller, if we ex 
 cept the length of the limbs. His shoulders were 
 square, in one sense at least, being in a right line 
 from one side to the other ; but they were so nar 
 row, that the long dangling arms that they sup 
 ported seemed to issue out of his back. His neck 
 possessed, in an eminent degree, the property of 
 length to which we have alluded, and it was top 
 ped by a small bullet-head, that exhibited, on one 
 side, a bush of bristling brown hair, and on the 
 other, a short, twinkling visage, that appeared to 
 maintain a constant struggle with itself in order to 
 look wise. He was the youngest son of a farmer 
 
 8 
 
86 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 in the western part of Massachusetts, who, being 
 in somewhat easy circumstances, had allowed this 
 boy to shoot up to the height we have mentioned, 
 without the ordinary interruptions of field-labour, 
 wood-chopping, and such other toils as were impos 
 ed on his brothers. Elnathan was indebted for this 
 exemption from labour, in some measure to his ex 
 traordinary growth, which, leaving him pale, inani 
 mate, and listless, induced his tender mother to 
 pronounce him " a sickly boy, and one that was 
 not equal to work, but who might earn a living, 
 comfortably enough, by taking to pleading law, or 
 turning minister, or doctoring, or some sitch-like 
 easy calling." Still there was a great uncertainty 
 which of these vocations the youth was best en 
 dowed to fill with credit and profit ; but, having no 
 other employment, the stripling was constantly 
 lounging about the " homestead," munching green 
 apples, and hunting for sorrel ; when the same sa 
 gacious eye, that had brought to light his latent 
 talents, seized upon this circumstance, as a clue to 
 direct his future path through the turmoils of the 
 world. " Elnathan was cut out for a doctor," she 
 knew, " for he was for ever digging for yarbs, and 
 tasting all kinds of things that grow d about the 
 lots. Then again he had a nateral love for doctor- 
 stuff, for when she had left the bilious pills out for 
 her man, all nicely covered with maple sugar, just 
 ready to take, Nathan had come in, and swallowed 
 them, for all the world as if they were nothing, 
 while Ichabod (her husband) could never get one 
 down without making sitch desperate faces, that 
 it was awful to look on." 
 
 This discovery decided the matter. Elnathan, 
 then about fifteen, was, much like a wild colt, caught 
 and trimmed, by clipping his bushy locks ; dressed 
 in a suit of homespun, died in the butternut bark ; 
 
THE PIONEERS. 87 
 
 furnished with a " New Testament," and a " Web 
 ster s Spelling-Book," and sent to school. As the 
 boy was by nature quite shrewd enough, and had 
 previously, at odd times, laid the foundations of 
 reading, writing, and arithmetic, he was soon con 
 spicuous in the school for his learning. The de 
 lighted mother had the gratification of hearing 
 from the lips of the master, that her son was a 
 " prodigious boy, and far above all his class." He 
 also thought that " the youth had a natural love for 
 doctoring, as he had known him frequently advise 
 the smaller children against eating too much ; and 
 once or twice, when the ignorant little things had 
 persevered in opposition to Elnathan s advice, he 
 had known her son to empty the school-baskets 
 with his own mouth, to prevent the consequences." 
 
 Soon after this comfortable declaration from his 
 schoolmaster, the lad was removed to the house of 
 the village doctor, a gentleman whose early career 
 had not been unlike that of our hero, where he was 
 to be seen, sometimes watering a horse, at others 
 watering medicines, blue, yellow, and red ; then 
 again he might be noticed, lolling under an apple- 
 tree, with Ruddiman s Latin Grammar in his hand, 
 and a corner of Denman s Midwifery sticking out 
 of the pocket of his coat ; for his instructer held 
 it absurd to teach his pupil how to despatch a pa 
 tient regularly from this world, before he knew how 
 to bring him into it. 
 
 This kind of life continued for a twelvemonth, 
 when he suddenly appeared at meeting in a long 
 coat ( and well did it deserve the name ! ) of black 
 homespun, with little bootees, bound with unco- 
 loured calf-skin, for the want of red morocco. 
 
 Soon after, he was seen shaving with a dull ra 
 zor ; and but three or four months elapsed before 
 several elderly ladies were observed hastening to- 
 
88 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 wards the house of a poor woman in the village, 
 while others were running to and fro in great ap 
 parent distress. One or two boys were mounted, 
 bareback, on horses, and sent off at speed in vari 
 ous directions. Several indirect questions were 
 put concerning where the physician was last ob 
 served ; but all would not do ; and at length Elna- 
 than was seen issuing from his door, with a very 
 grave air, preceded by a little white-headed boy, 
 who, out of breath, was trotting before him. The 
 following day the youth appeared in the street, as 
 the highway was called, and the neighbourhood 
 was astonished in observing how much he had 
 grown lately. The same week he bought a new 
 razor ; and the succeeding Sunday he entered the 
 meeting-house with a red silk handkerchief in his 
 hand, and with an extremely demure countenance. 
 In the evening he called upon a young woman of 
 his own class in life, for there were no others to be 
 found, and, when he was left alone with the fair, 
 he was called, for the first time in his life, Doctor 
 Todd, by her prudent mother. The ice once 
 broken in this manner, Elnathan was greeted from 
 every mouth with his official appellation. 
 
 Another year was passed under the superinten 
 dence of the same master, during which the young 
 physician had the credit of u riding with the old 
 doctor," although they were generally observed to 
 travel different roads. At the end of that period, 
 Dr. Todd attained his legal majority. He then 
 took a jaunt to Boston, to purchase medicines, and, 
 as some intimated, to walk the hospital ; we know 
 not how the latter might have been, but if true, he 
 soon walked through it, for he returned within a 
 fortnight, bringing with him a suspiciously looking 
 box, that smelled powerfully of brimstone. 
 
 The next Sunday he was married ; and the fol- 
 
THE PIONEERS. 89 
 
 lowing morning he entered a one-horse sleigh with 
 his bride, having before him the box we have men 
 tioned, w r ith another filled with home-made house 
 hold linen, a paper-covered trunk, with a red um 
 brella lashed to it, a pair of quite new saddle-bags, 
 and a bandbox. The next intelligence that his 
 friends received of the bride and bridegroom was, 
 that the latter was " settled in the new countries, 
 and well to do as a doctor, in Templeton, in York 
 state." 
 
 If a Templar would smile at the qualifications of 
 Marmaduke to fill the judicial seat that he occupied, 
 we are certain that a graduate of Leyden or Edin 
 burgh would be extremely amused with this true 
 narration of the servitude of Elnathan in the tem 
 ple of j^sculapius. But the same consolation was 
 afforded to both the jurist and the leech ; for Dr. 
 Todd was quite as much on a level with his com 
 peers in the profession in that country, as was Mar- 
 inaduke with his brethren on the bench. 
 
 Time and practice did wonders for the physician. 
 He was naturally humane, but possessed no small 
 share of moral courage ; or, in other words, he was 
 chary of the lives of his patients, and never tried 
 uncertain experiments on such members of society 
 as were considered useful ; but once or twice, when 
 a luckless vagrant had come under his care, he was 
 a little addicted to trying the effects of every vial 
 in his saddle-bags on the stranger s constitution. 
 Happily their number was small, and in most cases 
 their natures innocent. By these means Elnathan 
 had acquired a certain degree of knowledge in fe 
 vers and agues, and could talk with much judgment 
 concerning intermittents, remittents, tertians, quo 
 tidians, &c. In certain cutaneous disorders, very 
 prevalent in new settlements, he was considered 
 to be infallible ; and there was no woman on the 
 8* 
 
90 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 Patent, but would as soon think of becoming & 
 mother without a husband, as without the assist 
 ance of Dr. Todd. In short, he was rearing, on 
 this foundation of sand, a superstructure, cemented 
 by practice, though composed of somewhat brittle 
 materials. He, however, occasionally renewed his 
 elementary studies, and, with the observation of a 
 shrewd mind, was applying his practice to his 
 theory. 
 
 In surgery, having the least experience, and it 
 being a business that spoke directly to the senses, 
 he was most apt to distrust his own powers ; but 
 he had applied oils to several burns, cut round the 
 roots of sundry defective teeth, and sewed up the 
 wounds of numberless w r ood-choppers, with con 
 siderable eclat, when an unfortunate jobber suffer 
 ed a fracture of his leg by the tree that he had 
 been felling. It was on this occasion that our hero 
 encountered the greatest trial that his nerves and 
 moral feeling had ever sustained. In the hour of 
 need, he was, however, not found wanting. Most 
 of the amputations in the new settlements, and they 
 were quite frequent, were performed by some one 
 practitioner, who, possessing originally a reputation, 
 was enabled by this circumstance to acquire an ex 
 perience that rendered him deserving of it; and 
 Elnathan had been present at one or two of these 
 operations. But on the present occasion the man 
 of practice was not to be obtained, and the duty 
 fell, as a matter of course, to the share of Mr. Todd. 
 He went to work with a kind of blind desperation, 
 observing, at the same time, all the externals of 
 decent gravity and great skill. The sufferer s name 
 w r as Milligan, and it was to this event that Richard 
 alluded, when he spoke of assisting the Doctor, at 
 an amputation by holding the leg ! The limb was 
 certainly cut off, and the patient survived the ope- 
 
THE PIONEERS. 91 
 
 vntion. It was, however, two years before poor 
 Milligan ceased to complain that they had buried 
 the leg in so narrow a box, that it was straiten 
 ed for room ; he knew this to be true, for he could 
 feel the pain shooting up from the inhumed frag 
 ment into his living members. Marmaduke sug 
 gested that the fault might lie in the living arteries 
 and nerves ; but Richard, considering the amputa 
 tion as part of his own handy-work, strongly re 
 pelled the insinuation, at the same time declaring, 
 that he had often heard of men who could tell when 
 it was about to rain, by the toes of amputated limbs. 
 After two or three years, notwithstanding that Mil- 
 ligan s complaints gradually diminished, the leg 
 was dug up, arid a larger box furnished, and from 
 that hour no one had heard the sufferer utter an 
 other complaint on the subject. This gave the 
 public great confidence in Doctor Todd, whose re 
 putation was hourly increasing, and luckily for his 
 patients, his information also. 
 
 Notwithstanding Mr. Todd s six years practice, 
 and his success with the leg, he was not a little 
 appalled, on entering the hall of the mansion- 
 house. It was glaring with the light of day ; it 
 looked so splendid and imposing, compared with 
 the hastily built and scantily furnished apartments 
 which he frequented in his ordinary practice, and 
 contained so many well-dressed persons, and anx 
 iously looking-faces, that his usually firm nerves 
 were a good deal discomposed. He had heard 
 from the messenger who summoned him, that it was 
 a gun-shot wound, and had come from his own 
 home, wading through the snow, with his saddle 
 bags thrown over his arm, while separated arteries, 
 penetrated lungs, and injured vitals, were whirling 
 through his b ain, as if he were stalking ovei a 
 
92 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 field of battle, instead of Judge Temple s peacea 
 ble enclosure. 
 
 The first object that met his eye, as he moved 
 into the room, was Elizabeth, in her riding-habit, 
 richly laced with gold cord, her fine form bending 
 towards him, with her face expressing deep anxie 
 ty in every one of its beautiful features. The enor 
 mous bony knees of the physician struck each other 
 with a noise that was audible ; for in the absent 
 state of his mind, he mistook her for a general offi 
 cer, perforated with bullets, hastening from the 
 field of battle to implore his assistance. The de 
 lusion, however, was but momentary, and his eye 
 glanced rapidly from the daughter to the earnest 
 dignity of the father s countenance ; thence to the 
 busy strut of Richard, who was cooling his impa 
 tience at the hunter s indifference to his offered 
 assistance, by pacing the hall and cracking his whip ; 
 from him, to the Frenchman, who had stood for 
 several minutes unheeded with a chair for the lady ; 
 thence to Major Hartmann, who was very coolly 
 lighting a pipe three feet long by a candle in one 
 of the chandeliers ; thence to Mr. Grant, who was 
 turning over a manuscript with much earnestness 
 at one of the lustres ; thence to Remarkable, who 
 stood, with her aims demurely folded before her, 
 surveying with a look of admiration and envy the 
 dress and beauty of the young lady ; and from her 
 to Benjamin, who, with his feet standing wide apart, 
 and his arms a-kimbo, was balancing his square 
 little body, with the indifference of one who was 
 accustomed to wounds and bloodshed. All of these 
 seemed to be unhurt, and the operator began to 
 breathe more freely ; but before he had time to 
 take a second look, the Judge, advancing, shook 
 him kindly by the hand, and spoke. 
 
THE PIONEERS. 
 
 93 
 
 "Thou art welcome, my good sir, quite wel 
 come, indeed ; here is a youth, whom I have un 
 fortunately wounded in shooting a deer this evening, 
 and who requires some of thy assistance." 
 
 " Shooting at a deer, duke," interrupted Ri 
 chard, abruptly " Shooting at a deer. Who do you 
 think can prescribe, unless he knows the truth of 
 the case ? It is always so, with some people ; they 
 think a doctor can be deceived, with the same im 
 punity as another man." 
 
 " Shooting at a deer truly," returned the Judge, 
 with a smile, " although it is by no means certain 
 that I did not aid in destroying the buck ; but the 
 youth is injured by my hand, be that as it may ; 
 and it is thy skill, that must cure him, and my 
 pocket, that shall amply reward thee for it." 
 
 " Two ver good tings to depend on," observed 
 Monsieur Le Quoi, bowing politely, with a sweep 
 of his head, to the Judge and the practitioner. 
 
 " I thank you, Monsieur," returned the Judge ; 
 "but we keep the young man in pain. Remarka 
 ble, thou wilt please to provide linen for lint and 
 bandages." 
 
 This remark caused a cessation of the compli 
 ments, and induced the physician to turn an inquir 
 ing eye in the direction of his patient. During the 
 dialogue the young hunter had thrown aside his 
 over-coat, and now stood clad in a plain suit of the 
 common, light-coloured, homespun of the country, 
 that was evidently but recently made. His hand 
 was on the lapels of his coat, in the attitude of re 
 moving the garment, when he suddenly suspended 
 the movement, and looked towards the commise 
 rating Elizabeth, who was standing in an unchanged 
 posture, too much absorbed with her anxious feel 
 ings to heed his actions. A slight colour appear 
 ed passing over the brow of the youth, as he spoke, 
 
94 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 " Possibly the sight of blood may alarm the lady, 
 I will retire to another room, while the wound is 
 dressing." 
 
 " By no means," said Dr. Todd, who, having 
 discovered that his patient was far from being a 
 man of importance, felt wonderfully emboldened to 
 perform his duty. " The strong light of these can 
 dles is favourable to the operation, and it is seldom 
 that we hard students enjoy good eyesight." 
 
 While speaking, Elnathan placed a pair of large 
 iron-rimmed spectacles on his face, where they 
 dropped, as it were by long practice, to the extre 
 mity of his slim, pug nose ; and if they were of no 
 service as assistants to his eyes, neither were they 
 any impediment to his vision ; for his little, gray 
 organs were twinkling above them, like two stars 
 emerging from the cover of an envious cloud. The 
 action was unheeded by all but Remarkable, who 
 observed to Benjamin 
 
 " Doctor Todd is a comely man to look on, and 
 a disp ut pretty spoken one tpo. How well he 
 seems in spectacles. I declare, they give a grand 
 look to a body s face. I have quite a great mind 
 to try them myself." 
 
 The speech of the stranger recalled the recol 
 lection of Miss Temple, who started, as if from 
 deep abstraction, and, colouring excessively, she 
 motioned to a young woman, who served in the 
 capacity of a maid, and retired, with an air of wo 
 manly reserve. 
 
 The field was now left to the physician and his 
 patient, while the different personages who re 
 mained, gathered around the latter, with faces ex 
 pressing the various degrees of interest, that each 
 one felt in his condition. Major Hartmann alone re 
 tained his seat, where he continued to throw out 
 vast quantities of smoke, now rolling his eyes up 
 
THE PIONEERS. 95 
 
 to the ceiling, as if musing on the uncertainty of 
 life, and now bending them on the wounded man, 
 with an expression that bespoke some conscious 
 ness of his situation. 
 
 In the mean time, Elnathan, to whom the sight 
 of a gun-shot wound was a perfect novelty, com 
 menced his preparations, with a solemnity and care 
 that were worthy of the occasion. An old shirt 
 was procured by Benjamin, and placed in the hands 
 of the other, who tore divers bandages from it, 
 with an exactitude, that marked both his own skill, 
 and the importance of the operation. 
 
 The moment Richard heard the sound that was 
 produced by rending the linen, he stepped up to 
 the group, with the air of one who well under 
 stood the business in hand. When this preparato 
 ry measure was taken, Dr. Todd selected a piece 
 of the shirt with great care, and, handing it to Mr. 
 Jones, without moving a muscle, said 
 
 " Here, Squire Jones, you are well acquainted 
 with these things ; will you please to scrape the 
 lint ? It should be fine, and soft, you know, my 
 dear sir; and be cautious that no cotton gets in, 
 or it may p ison the wownd. The shirt has been 
 made with cotton thread, but you can easily pick 
 it out." 
 
 Richard assumed the office, with a nod at his 
 cousin, that said, quite plainly, " You see, this fel 
 low can t get along without me ;" and began to 
 scrape the piece of linen on his knee, with great 
 diligence. 
 
 A table was, now spread, by the practitioner, 
 with vials, boxes of salve, and divers surgical in 
 struments. As the latter appeared, in succession, 
 from a case of red morocco, their owner held up 
 each implement to the strong light of the chande 
 lier, near to which he stood, and examined it, with 
 
96 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 the nicest care and precision. A red silk handker 
 chief was frequently applied to the glittering steel, 
 as if to remove from the polished surfaces, the 
 least impediment, which might exist, to the most 
 delicate operation. After the rather scantily fur 
 nished pocket-case, which contained these instru 
 ments, was exhausted, the physician turned to his 
 saddle bags, and produced various vials, filled with 
 liquids, of the most radiant colours. These were 
 arranged, in due order, by the side of the murder 
 ous saws, knives, and scissors, when Elnathan 
 stretched his long body to its utmost elevation, 
 placing his hand on the small of his back, as if for 
 support, and looked about him to discover what ef 
 fect this display of his professional skill was likely 
 to produce on the spectators. 
 
 " Upon my wort, toctor," observed Major Hart- 
 mann, with a roguish roll of his little black eyes, 
 but with every other feature of his face in a state 
 of perfect rest, "put you have a very pretty pock- 
 et-pook of tools tere, and your toctor-stuff glitters, 
 as if it was petter for ter eyes as for ter pelly." 
 
 Elnathan gave a somewhat equivocal hem, be 
 fore he replied one that might have been equally 
 taken for that kind of noise which cowards are 
 said to make, in order to awaken their dormant 
 courage, or for a natural effort to clear the throat : 
 if for the latter, it was successful ; foi;, turning his 
 face to the veteran German, he said 
 
 "Very true, Major Hartmann, very true, sir; 
 a prudent man will always strive to make his reme 
 dies agreeable to the eyes, though they may not 
 altogether suit the stomach. It is no small part of 
 our art, sir," and he now spake with the confidence 
 of a man who understood his subject, " to recon 
 cile the patient to what is for his own good, though, 
 at the same time, it may be unpalatable." 
 
THE PIONEERS. 97 
 
 * Sartain ! Doctor Todd is right," said Remark- 
 ot ^e, " and has Scripter for what he says. The 
 Bole tells us, how things mought be sweet to the 
 mt*uth, and bitter to the inwards." 
 
 4 True, true," interrupted the Judge, a little im 
 patiently ; " but here is a youth who needs no de 
 ception to lure him to his own benefit. 1 see, by 
 his eye, that he fears nothing more than delay." 
 
 /he stranger had, without assistance, bared his 
 OWQ shoulder, when the slight perforation, produc 
 ed by the passage of the buck-shot, was plainly 
 visible. The intense cold of the evening had 
 stooped the bleeding, and Dr. Todd, casting a fur 
 tive glance at the wound, thought it by no means 
 so ormidable an affair as he had anticipated. Thus 
 encouraged, he approaches his patient, and made 
 some indication of an intention to trace the route 
 thai had been taken by the lead. 
 
 Kemarkable often found occasions, in after days, 
 to recount the minutiae of that celebrated opera 
 tion : and when she arrived at this point, she com- 
 moWy proceeded as follows : " And then the 
 Doctor tuck out of the pocket-book a long thing, 
 like a knitting-needle, with a button fastened to the 
 end on t ; and then he pushed it into the wownd ; 
 and then the young man looked awful ; and then 
 I thought I should have swaned away I felt in 
 sitch a disp ut taking ; and then the Doctor had 
 run it right through his shoulder, and shoved the 
 bullet out on t other side ; and so Doctor Todd 
 cured the young man of a ball that the Judge had 
 shot into him, for all the world, as easy as I could 
 pick out a splinter, with my darning-needle." 
 
 Such were the impressions of Remarkable on 
 the subject ; and such, doubtless, were the opi 
 nions of most of those, who felt it necessary to enter- 
 9 
 
98 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 tain a species of religious veneration for the abilities 
 and skill of Elnathan ; but such was far from the truth , 
 
 When the physician attempted to introduce the 
 instrument described by Remarkable, he was re 
 pulsed by the stranger, with a good deal of deci 
 sion, and some little contempt, in his manner. 
 
 " I believe, sir," he said, "that a probe is not 
 necessary ; the shot has missed the bone, and has 
 passed directly through the arm to the opposite 
 side, where it remains but skin-deep, and whence, 
 I should think, it might be easily extracted." 
 
 " The gentleman knows best," said Dr. Todd, 
 laying down the probe, with the air of a man who 
 had assumed it merely in compliance with forms , 
 and turning to Richard, he fingered the lint, with 
 the appearance of great care and foresight. " Ad 
 mirably well scraped, squire Jones ! it is about the 
 best lint I have ever seen. I want your assistance, 
 my good sir, to hold the patient s arm, while I make 
 an incision for the ball. Now, I rather guess, there 
 is not another gentleman present who could scrape 
 the lint so well as squire Jones." 
 
 " Such things run in families," observed Ri 
 chard, rising with alacrity to render the desired as 
 sistance. " My father, and my grandfather before 
 him, were both celebrated for their knowledge of 
 surgery; they were not, like Marmaduke here, 
 puffed up with an accidental thing, such as the time 
 when he drew in the hip-joint of the man who was 
 thrown from his horse : that was the fall before you 
 came into the settlement, Doctor ; but they were 
 men who were taught the thing regularly, spend 
 ing half their lives in learning those little niceties ; 
 though, for the matter of that, my grandfather wa. 
 a college-bred physician, and the best in the colo 
 ny, too that is, in his neighbourhood." 
 
THE PIONEERS. 99 
 
 " So it goes with the world, Squire/ cried Ben 
 jamin, u if-so-be that a man wants to walk the 
 quarter-deck with credit, d ye see, and with regu 
 lar built swabs on his shoulders, he mus nt think 
 to do it, by getting in at the cabin- windows. There 
 are two ways to get into a top, besides the lubber- 
 holes. The true way to walk aft, is to begin for- 
 rard ; tho f it be only in an humble way, like my 
 self, d ye see, which was, from being only a bander 
 of top-gallant-sails, and a stower of the flying-jib, 
 to keeping the key of the Captain s locker." 
 
 " Benjamin speaks quite to the purpose," con 
 tinued Richard, with a benevolent smile, directed 
 to the Doctor. " I dare say, that he has often seen 
 shot extracted, in the different ships in which he 
 has served ; suppose we get him to hold the basin ; 
 he must be used to the sight of blood." 
 
 " That he is, Squire, that he is," interrupted the 
 ci-devant steward : " many s the good shot, round, 
 double-headed, and grape, that I ve seen the doc 
 tors at work on. For the matter of that, I was in 
 a boat, alongside the ship, when they cut out the 
 twelve-pound shot from the thigh of the Captain 
 of the Foody-rong, one of Mounsheer Ler Quaw s 
 countrymen, there !" 
 
 " A twelve-pound ball from the thigh of a human 
 being !" exclaimed Mr. Grant, with great simplici 
 ty, dropping the sermon he was again reading, and 
 raising his spectacles, from before his eyes, to the 
 top of his forehead. 
 
 "A twelve-pounder !" echoed Benjamin staring 
 around him, with much confidence ; " a twelve- 
 pounder ! ay ! a twenty-four pound shot can easily 
 be taken from a man s body, if-so-be a doctor only 
 knows how. There s Squire Jones, now, ask him, 
 sir ; he reads all the books ; ask him, if he never 
 
100 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 fell in with a page that keeps the reckoning of 
 such things." 
 
 u Certainly, more important operations than that 
 have been performed," observed Richard ; " the 
 Encyclopaedia mentions much more incredible cir 
 cumstances than that, as, I dare say, you know, 
 Doctor Todd." 
 
 " Certainly, there are incredible tales told of 
 such matters," returned Elnathan, "though I can 
 not say, that I have ever seen, myself, any thing 
 larger than a musket-bullet extracted." 
 
 During this discourse, an incision had been made 
 through the skin of the young hunter s shoulder, 
 and the lead was laid bare. Elnathan now took 
 into his hand, with a solemn air, a pair of glittering 
 iorceps, and was in the act of applying them to the 
 wound, when a sudden motion of the patient caused 
 the shot to fall out of itself. The long arm and 
 broad hand of the operator were now of singular 
 service ; for the latter expanded itself, and caught 
 the lead, while at the same time, an extremely am 
 biguous motion was made, by its brother, so as to 
 leave it doubtful to the spectator, how great was 
 its agency in releasing the shot. Richard, how 
 ever, put the matter at rest, by exclaiming 
 
 " Very neatly done, Doctor ! I have never seen 
 a shot more neatly extracted ; and, I dare say, 
 Benjamin will say the same." 
 
 " Why, considering," returned Benjamin, " I 
 must say, that it was ship-shape, and Brister- 
 fashion. Now all that the Doctor has to do, is to 
 clap a couple of plugs in the shot holes, and the 
 iad will float in any gale, that blows in these here 
 hills." 
 
 " I thank you, sir, for what you have done," 
 said the youth, with a little distance : " But here 
 
THE PIONEERS. 101 
 
 is a man, who will take me under his care, and 
 spare you all, gentlemen, any further trouble on 
 my account." 
 
 The whole group turned their heads in surprise, 
 and beheld, standing at one of the distant doors of 
 the hall, the person of Indian John. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 From Susquehanna s utmost springs, 
 Where savage tribes pursue their game, 
 His blanket tied with yellow strings, 
 The shepherd of the forest came. 
 
 Freneau. 
 
 BEFORE the Europeans, or, to use a more signi 
 ficant term, the Christians, dispossessed the ori 
 ginal owners of the soil, all that section of country, 
 which contains the New-England States, and those 
 of the Middle, which lie east of the mountains, was 
 occupied by two great nations of Indians, from 
 whom numberless tribes had descended. But, as 
 the original distinctions between these nations were 
 marked by a difference in language, as well as by 
 repeated and bloody wars, they never were known 
 to amalgamate, until after the power and inroads 
 of the whites had reduced some of the tribes to a 
 state of dependence, that rendered not only their 
 political, but, considering the wants and habits cf 
 a savage, their animal existence also, extremely 
 precarious. 
 
 These two great divisions consisted, on the one 
 side, of the Five, or, as they were afterward call 
 ed, the Six Nations, and their allies; and, on the 
 other, of the Lenni Lenape, or Delawares, with 
 the numerous and powerful tribes, that owned that 
 nation as their Grandfather. The former were 
 
THE PIONEERS. 103 
 
 generally called, by the Anglo-Americans, Iroquois, 
 or the Six Nations, and sometimes Mingoes. Their 
 appellation, among their rivals, seems generally to 
 have been the Mengwe, or Maqua. They consist 
 ed of the tribes, or, as their allies were fond of 
 asserting, in order to raise their consequence, or 
 the several nations of the Mohawks, the Oneidas, 
 the Onondagas, Cayugas, and Senecas ; "who rank 
 ed, in the confederation, in the order with which 
 they are named. The Tuscaroras were admitted 
 to this union, near a century after its formation, 
 and thus completed the number to six. 
 
 Of the Lenni Lenape, or as they were called by 
 the whites, from the circumstance of their holding 
 their great council-fire on the banks of that river, 
 the Delaware nation, the principal tribes, besides 
 that which bore the generic name, were, the Ma- 
 hicanni, Mohicans or Mohegans, and the Nanti- 
 cokes, or Nentigoes. Of these, the latter held the 
 country along the waters of the Chesapeake and 
 the sea-shore ; while the Mohegans occupied the 
 district between the Hudson and the ocean, in 
 cluding most of New-England. Of course, these 
 two tribes were the first who were dispossessed 
 of their lands by the Europeans, 
 
 The wars of a portion of the latter are celebrat 
 ed among us, as the wars of King Philip ; but the 
 peaceful policy of William Penn, or Miquon, as he 
 was termed by the natives, effected its object with 
 less difficulty, though not with less certainty. As 
 the natives gradually disappeared from the country 
 of the Mohegans, some scattering families sought 
 a refuge around the council-fire of the mother tribe, 
 or the Delawares. 
 
 This people had been induced to suffer them 
 selves to be called women, by their old enemies, 
 the Mingoes, or Iroquois, after the latter, having 
 
104 THE IIONEERS 
 
 in vain tried the effects of hostility, had recourse to 
 artifice, in order to circumvent their rivals. Ac 
 cording to this declaration, the Delawares were to 
 cultivate the arts of peace, and to intrust their de 
 fence entirely to the men, or warlike tribes of the 
 Six nations. 
 
 This state of things continued until the war of 
 the revolution, when the Lenni Lenape formally 
 asserted their independence, and fearlessly declar 
 ed, that they were again men. But in a govern 
 ment so peculiarly republican as the Indian polity 
 it was not, at all times, an easy task to restrain 
 their members within the rules of their nation. 
 Several fierce and renowned warriors of the Mo- 
 hegans, finding the conflict with the whites to be 
 in vain, sought a refuge with their Grandfather, 
 and brought with them the feelings and principles 
 that had so long distinguished them in their own 
 tribe. These chieftains kept alive, in some mea 
 sure, the martial spirit of the Delawares; and 
 would, at times, lead small parties against their an 
 cient enemies, or such other foes as incurred their 
 resentment. 
 
 Among these warriors was one race particularly 
 famous for their prowess, and for those qualities 
 that render an Indian hero celebrated. But time, 
 disease, and want, had conspired to thin their num 
 ber ; and the sole representative of this once re 
 nowned family now stood in the hall of Marmaduke 
 Temple. He had, for a long time, been an asso 
 ciate of the white men, particularly in their wars . 
 and, having been, at a season when his services 
 were of importance, much noticed and flattered, 
 he had turned Christian, and was baptized by the 
 name of John. He had suffered severely in his 
 family during the recent war, having had every soul 
 to whom he was allied cut off by an inroad of the 
 
THE PIONEERS. 105 
 
 enemy ; and when the last, lingering remnant of 
 his nation extinguished their fires, among the hills 
 of the Delaware, he alone had remained, with a de 
 termination of laying his bones in that country, 
 where his fathers had so long lived and governed. 
 
 It was only, however, within a few months, that 
 he had appeared among the mountains that sur 
 rounded Templeton. To the hut of the old hunt 
 er he seemed peculiarly welcome ; and, as the 
 habits of the " Leather-Stocking" were so nearly 
 assimilated to those of the savages, the conjunction 
 of their interests excited no surprise. They re 
 sided in the same cabin, ate of the same food, and 
 were chiefly occupied in the same pursuits. 
 
 We have already mentioned the baptismal name 
 of this ancient chief; but in his conversation with 
 Natty, held in the language of the Delawares, he 
 was heard uniformly to call himself Chingachgook, 
 which, interpreted, means the " Great Snake." 
 This was a name that he had attained in his youth, 
 by his skill and prowess in the art of war ; but 
 when his brows began to wrinkle with time, and 
 he stood alone, the last of his family, and his par 
 ticular tribe, the few Delawares, who yet continu 
 ed about the head-waters of their river, gave him 
 the expressive appellation of Mohegan. Perhaps 
 there was something of deep feeling excited in the 
 bosom of this inhabitant of the forest by the sound 
 of a name that recalled the idea of his nation in 
 ruins, for he seldom used it himself never indeed, 
 excepting on the most solemn occasions ; but the 
 settlers had united, according to the Christian cus 
 tom, his baptismal with his national name, and to 
 them he was generally known as John Mohegan, 
 or, more familiarly, as Indian John. 
 
 From his long association with the white men, 
 the habits rf Mohegan were a mixture of the civil- 
 
106 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 ized and savage states, though there was certainly 
 a strong preponderance in favour of the latter. In 
 common with all his people, who dwelt within the 
 influence of the Anglo-Americans, he had acquired 
 new wants, and his dress was a mixture of his na 
 tive fashions with European manufactures. Not 
 withstanding the intense cold of the atmosphere 
 without, his head was uncovered ; but a profusion 
 of long, black, coarse hair, concealed his forehead, 
 his crown, and even hung about his cheeks, so as 
 to convey the idea, to one who knew his present 
 and former conditions, that he encouraged its abun 
 dance, as a willing veil, to hide the shame of a no 
 ble soul, mourning for a glory that it had once 
 known. His forehead, when it could be seen, ap 
 peared lofty, broad, and noble. His nose was high, 
 and of the kind called Roman, with nostrils that 
 expanded, in his seventieth year, with the air of 
 freedom that had distinguished them when a youth. 
 His mouth was large, but compressed, and possess 
 ing a great share of expression and character, and, 
 when opened, discovered a perfect set of short, 
 strong, and regular teeth. His chin was full, though 
 not prominent ; and his face bore the infallible mark 
 of his people, in its square, high cheek-bones. The 
 eyes were not large, but their black orbs glittered 
 in the rays of the candles, as he gazed intently 
 down the hall, like two balls of fire. 
 
 The instant that Mohegan observed himself to 
 be noticed by the group around the young stran- 
 e;er, he dropped the blanket, which covered the 
 upper part of his frame, from his shoulders, suffer 
 ing it to fall over his leggins, of untanned deer-skin, 
 where it was retained by a belt of bark, that con 
 fined it to his waist, and moved forward. 
 
 As he walked slowly down the long hall, the un 
 usually dignified and deliberate tread of the Indian 
 
THE PIONEERS, 107 
 
 surprised the spectators. His shoulders, and body 
 to his waist, were entirely bare, with the excep 
 tion of a silver medallion of Washington, that was 
 suspended from his neck by a thong of buck-skin, 
 and rested on his high chest, amidst the scars of 
 many wounds. His shoulders were rather broad 
 and full ; but the arms, though straight and grace 
 ful, wanted the muscular appearance that labour 
 alone can give to a race of men. The medallion 
 was the only ornament he wore, although enormous 
 slits in the rim of either ear, which suffered the 
 cartilages to fall for two inches below the members, 
 were evidently used for the purposes of decoration, 
 in other days. In his hand he held a small basket, 
 of the ash-wood slips, coloured in divers fantastical 
 conceits, with red and black paints mingled with 
 the white of the wood. 
 
 As this child of the forest approached them, the 
 whole party stood aside, and allowed him to con 
 front the evident object of his visit. He did not 
 speak, however, but stood, fixing his glowing eyes 
 on the shoulder of the young hunter, and then 
 turning them intently on the countenance of the 
 Judge. The latter was a good deal astonished at 
 this unusual departure from the ordinarily subdued 
 and quiet manner of the Indian ; but soon recover 
 ing himself, he extended his hand, and said 
 
 " Thou art welcome, John. This youth enter 
 tains a high opinion of thy skill, it seems, for he 
 prefers thee to dress his wound even to our good 
 friend Dr. Todd." 
 
 Mohegan now spoke, in tolerable English, but 
 in a low, monotonous, guttural tone : 
 
 " The children of Miquon do not love the sight 
 of blood ; and yet, the young eagle has been struck 
 by the hand that should do no evil !" 
 
 "Mohegan! old John!" exclaimed the Judge, in 
 
108 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 horror, and turning his fine, manly, open counte 
 nance to the other; "thinkest thou, that my hand 
 has ever drawn human blood willingly ? For shame ! 
 for shame, old John ! thy religion should have 
 taught thee better." 
 
 " The evil spirit sometimes lives in the best 
 heart," returned John, impressively, as he tried 
 to study the countenance of the Judge ; " but my 
 brother speaks the truth ; his hand has never taken 
 life, when awake ; no ! not even when the chil 
 dren of the great English Father were making the 
 waters red with the blood of his people." 
 
 " Surely, John," said Mr. Grant, with much 
 earnestness, " you remember the divine command 
 of our Saviour, judge not, lest ye be judged. 
 What motive could Judge Temple have for injur 
 ing a youth like this ; one to whom he is unknown, 
 and from whom he can receive neither injury nor 
 favour !" 
 
 John listened respectfully to the divine, and when* 
 he had concluded, the Indian stretched out his 
 arm, and said with energy 
 
 " He is innocent my brother has not done this 
 wrong." 
 
 Marmaduke received the offered hand of the 
 other with a benevolent smile, that showed, how 
 ever he might be astonished at his suspicion, he 
 had ceased to resent it ; while the wounded youth 
 stood, gazing from his red friend to his host, with 
 an expression of scornful pity powerfully delineat 
 ed in his countenance- No sooner was this act of 
 pacification exchanged, than John proceeded to dis 
 charge the duty, to perform which he had come. 
 Dr. Todd was far from manifesting any displeasure 
 at this invasion of his rights, but made way for the 
 new leech, with an air that expressed a willingness- 
 to gratify the humouis of his patient, now that the 
 
THE PIONEERS. 109 
 
 all-important part of the business was so success 
 fully performed, and nothing remained to be done, 
 but what any child might effect. Indeed, he whis 
 pered as much to Monsieur Le Quoi, when he 
 said 
 
 " It was fortunate that the ball was extracted 
 before this Indian came in; but any old woman 
 can dress the wound now. The young man, I hear ? 
 lives with John and Natty Bumppo, and it s al 
 ways best to humour a patient, when it can be done 
 discreetly I say, discreetly, Monsieur." 
 
 " Certainement," returned the Frenchman ; 
 " you seem ver happy, Mister Todd, in your prac- 
 teece. I should tink de elderly lady might ver 
 well finish, vat you so skeelfully begin." 
 
 But Richard had, at the bottom, a great deal of 
 veneration for the knowledge of Mohegan, espe 
 cially in external wounds ; and retaining all his de 
 sire for a participation in glory, he advanced nigh 
 to the Indian, and said 
 
 " Sago, sago, Mohegan ! sago, my good fellow ! 
 I am right glad you have come ; give me a regular 
 physician, like Dr. Todd, to cut into flesh, and a 
 native to heal the wound. Do you remember, John, 
 the time when I and you set the bone of Natty Bump- 
 po s little finger, after he broke it by falling from 
 the rock, when he was trying to get the partridge 
 down, that fell on the cliffs. I never could tell 
 yet, whether it was I or Natty, who killed that 
 bird : he fired first, and the bird stooped, but then 
 it was rising again, just as I pulled trigger. I should 
 hive claimed it, for a certainty, but Natty said the 
 hole was too big for shot, and he fired a single ball 
 from his rifle ; but the piece I carried then didn t 
 scatter, and I have known it to bore a hole through 
 a board, when I ve been shooting at the mark, 
 very much like rifle-bullets. Shall I help you, 
 10 
 
110 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 John ? You know that I have a knack at these 
 things." 
 
 Mohegan heard this disquisition quite patiently, 
 and when Richard concluded, he held out the bas 
 ket, which contained his specifics, indicating, by a 
 gesture, that he might hold it. Mr. Jones was 
 quite satisfied with this commission ; and, ever af 
 ter, in speaking of the event, was used to say, that 
 " Doctor Todd and I cut out the bullet, and I and 
 Indian John dressed the wound." 
 
 The patient was much more deserving of that 
 epithet, while under the hands of Mohegan, than 
 while suffering under the practice of the true phy 
 sician. Indeed, the Indian gave him but little op 
 portunity for the exercise of a forbearing temper, 
 as he had come prepared for the occasion. His 
 dressings were soon applied, and consisted only of 
 some pounded bark, moistened with a fluid that he 
 had expressed from some of the simples of the 
 woods. 
 
 Among the native tribes of the forest, there were 
 always two kinds of leeches to be met with. The 
 one placed its whole dependence on the exercise 
 of a supernatural power, and was held in greater 
 veneration than their practice could at all justify ; 
 but the other was really endowed with great skill, 
 in the ordinary complaints of the human body, and 
 was, more particularly, as Natty had intimated, 
 " curous in cuts and bruises." 
 
 While John and Richard were placing the dress 
 ings on the wound, Elnathan was acutely eyeing 
 the contents of Mohegan s basket, which Mr. Jones, 
 in his physical ardour, had transferred to the Doc 
 tor, in order to hold, himself, one end of the ban 
 dages. Here he was soon enabled to detect sundry 
 fragments of wood and bark, of which he, quite 
 coolly, took possession, very possibly without any 
 
THE PIONEERS. Ill 
 
 intention of speaking at all upon the subject ; but 
 when he beheld the full, blue eye of Marmaduke, 
 watching his movements, he whispered to the 
 Judge 
 
 " It is not to be denied, Judge Temple, but what 
 the savages are knowing, in small matters of phy 
 sic. They hand these things down in their tradi 
 tions. Now in cancers and hydrophoby, they are 
 quite ingenious. I will just take this bark home, 
 and analyze it ; for, though it can t be worth six 
 pence to the young man s shoulder, it may be good 
 for the toothach, or rheumatis, or some of them 
 complaints. A man should never be above learn 
 ing, even if it be from an Indian." 
 
 It was fortunate for Dr. Todd, that his princi 
 ples were so liberal, as, coupled with his practice, 
 they were the means by which he acquired all his 
 knowledge, and by which he was gradually quali 
 fying himself for the duties of his profession. The 
 process to which he subjected the specific, differed, 
 however, greatly from the ordinary rules of chy- 
 mistry ; for, instead of separating, he afterward unit 
 ed the component parts of Mohegan s remedy, and 
 thus was able to discover the tree whence the In 
 dian had taken it. 
 
 Some ten years after this event, when civiliza 
 tion and its refinements had crept, or rather rush 
 ed, into the settlements among these wild hills, an 
 affair of honour occurred, and Elnathan was seen 
 to apply a salve to the wound that was received by 
 one of the parties, which had the flavour that was 
 peculiar to the tree, or root, that Mohegan had 
 used. Ten years later still, when England and 
 the United States were again engaged in war, and 
 the hordes of the western parts of the state of 
 New- York were rushing to the field, Elnathan- 
 pr jsuming on the reputation obtained by these two 
 
112 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 operations, followed in the rear of a brigade of 
 militia, as its surgeon ! 
 
 When Mohegan had applied the bark, he freely 
 relinquished to Richard the needle and thread, that 
 were used in sewing the bandages, for these were 
 implements of which the native but little under 
 stood the use ; and, stepping back, with decent 
 gravity, awaited the completion of the business by 
 the other. 
 
 " Reach me the scissors," said Mr. Jones, when 
 he had finished, and finished for the second time, 
 after tying the linen in every shape and form that 
 it could be placed ; " reach me the scissors, for 
 here is a thread that must be cut off, or it might 
 get under the dressings, and inflame the wound. 
 See, John, I have put the lint I scraped, between 
 two layers of the linen ; for though the bark is cer 
 tainly best for the flesh, yet the lint will serve to 
 keep the cold air from the wound. If any lint will 
 do it good, it is this lint ; for I scraped it myself, 
 and I will not turn my back, at scraping lint, to any 
 man on the Patent. But I ought to know how, 
 if any body ought, for my grandfather was a doctor, 
 and my father had a natural turn that way." 
 
 " Here, Squire, is the scissors," said Remarka 
 ble, producing from beneath her petticoat of green 
 moreen, a pair of dull-looking shears ; " well, upon 
 my say so, you have sewed on the rags as well as 
 a woman." 
 
 " As well as a woman," echoed Richard, with 
 indignation ; " what do women know of such mat 
 ters ? and you are proof of the truth of what I say. 
 Who ever saw such a pair of shears used about a 
 wound ? Dr. Todd, I will thank you for the scis 
 sors from the case. Now, young man, I think 
 you ll do. The shot has been very neatly taken 
 out, although, perhaps, seeing I had a hand in it, 1 
 
THE PIONEERS. 113 
 
 ought not to say so ; and the wound is most admi 
 rably dressed. You will soon be well again; 
 though the jerk you gave my leaders must have a 
 tendency to inflame the shoulder, yet, you will do, 
 you will do. You were rather flurried, I suppose, 
 and not used to horses ; but I forgive the accident, 
 for the motive : no doubt, you had the best of 
 motives ; yes, yes, now you will do." 
 
 " Then, gentlemen," said the wounded stranger, 
 rising, and resuming his clothes, " it will be unne 
 cessary for me to trespass longer on your time 
 and patience. There remains but one thing more 
 to be settled, and that is, our respective rights to 
 the deer, Judge Temple." 
 
 " I acknowledge it to be thine," said Marma- 
 duke ; " and much more deeply am I indebted to 
 thee, than for this piece of venison. But in the 
 morning thou wilt call here, and we can adjust 
 this, as well as more important matters. Eliza 
 beth," for the young lady being apprised that 
 the wound was dressed, had re-entered the hall, 
 " thou wilt order a repast for this youth before 
 we proceed to the church ; and Aggy will have a 
 sleigh prepared, to convey him to his friend." 
 
 " But, sir, I cannot go without a part of the 
 deer," returned the youth, seemingly struggling 
 with his own feelings ; " I have already told you, 
 that I needed the venison for myself." 
 
 " Oh ! we will not Ije particular," exclaimed Ri 
 chard ; u the Judge will pay you, in the morning, 
 for the whole deer ; and, Remarkable, give the 
 lad all the animal excepting the saddle ; so, on the 
 whole, I think, you may consider yourself as a 
 very lucky young man ; you have been shot, 
 without being disabled ; have had the wound dress 
 ed in the best possible manner, here in the woods, 
 as well as it would have been done in the Phila- 
 10* 
 
114 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 delphia hospital, if not better ; have sold your deer 
 at a high price, and yet can keep most of the car 
 cass, with the skin in the bargain. Marky, tell 
 Tom to give him the skin too ; and in the morning, 
 bring the skin to me, and I will give you half-a- 
 dollar for it, or at least, three-and-six-pence. I 
 want just such a skin to cover the pillion that I 
 am making for cousin Bess." 
 
 " I thank you, sir, for your liberality, and, I 
 trust, am also thankful for my escape," returned 
 the stranger ; " but you reserve the very part of 
 the animal that I wished for my own use. I must 
 have the saddle myself." 
 
 " Must !" echoed Richard ; " must is harder to 
 be swallowed than the horns of the buck." 
 
 " Yes, must," repeated the youth : when, turn 
 ing his head proudly around him, as if to see who 
 would dare to controvert his rights, he met the as 
 tonished gaze of Elizabeth, and proceeded more 
 mildly " that is, if a man is allowed the posses 
 sion of that which his hand hath killed, and the 
 law will protect him in the enjoyment of his own." 
 
 " The law will do so," said Judge Temple, with 
 an air of mortification, mingled with surprise. 
 Benjamin, see that the whole deer is placed in the 
 sleigh ; and have this youth conveyed to the hut 
 of Leather-stocking. But, young man, thou hast 
 a name, and I shall see you again, in order to com 
 pensate thee for the wrong I have done thee?" 
 
 "lam called Edwards," returned the hunter, 
 " Oliver Edwards. I am easily to be seen, sir. for 
 I live nigh by, and am not afraid to show my 
 face, having never injured any man." 
 
 " It is we who have injured you, sir," said 
 Elizabeth ; " and the knowledge that you decline 
 our assistance would give my father great pain, 
 He would gladly see you in the morning." 
 
THE PIONEERS. 115 
 
 The young hunter gazed at the fair speaker, 
 wntil his earnest look brought the blood to her very 
 temples ; when, recollecting himself, he bent his 
 head, dropping his eyes to the carpet, and re 
 plied 
 
 " In the morning, then, will I return, and see 
 Judge Temple ; and I will accept his offer of the 
 sleigh, in token of our amity." 
 
 " Amity !" repeated Marmaduke ; " there was 
 no malice in the act that injured thee, young man ; 
 there should be none in the feelings which it may 
 engender." 
 
 " Forgive our trespasses, as we forgive those 
 who trespass against us," observed Mr. Grant, u is 
 the language of prayer, used by our Divine Master 
 himself, and it should be the golden rule of us, his 
 humble followers." 
 
 The stranger stood a moment, lost in thought, 
 and then glancing his dark eyes, rather wildly, 
 around the hall, he bowed low to the divine, and 
 moved from the apartment, with an air that would 
 not admit of detention. 
 
 " Tis strange that one so young should harbour 
 such feelings of resentment," said Marmaduke, 
 when the door closed behind the stranger; "but 
 while the pain is recent, and the sense of the inju 
 ry is so fresh, he must feel more strongly than in 
 his cooler moments. I doubt not, we shall see 
 him, in the morning more tractable." 
 
 Elizabeth, to whom this speech was addressed, 
 did not reply, but moved slowly up the hall, by 
 herself, fixing her eyes on the little figure of the 
 English ingrained carpet, that covered the floor , 
 while, on the other hand, Richard 2jc..ve a loud 
 crack with his whip, as the stranger disappeared, 
 and cried 
 
 " Well, duke, you are your own master, but I 
 
116 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 would have tried law for the saddle, before I would 
 have given it to the fellow. Do you not own the 
 mountains, as well as the valleys ? are not the 
 woods your own? what right has this chap, or the 
 Leather-stocking, to shoot in your woods, without 
 your permission ? Now, I have known a farmer, 
 in Pennsylvania, order a sportsman off his farm, 
 with as little ceremony as I would order Benjamin 
 to put a log in the stove. By the by, Benjamin, 
 see how the thermometer stands. Now, if a man 
 has a right to do this on a farm of a hundred acres, 
 what power must a landlord have, who owns sixty 
 thousand ay ! for the matter of that, including the 
 late purchases, a hundred thousand? There is 
 Mohegan, to be sure, he may have some right, be 
 ing a native ; but it s little the poor fellow can do 
 now with his rifle. How is this managed in France, 
 Monsieur Le Quoi ? do you let every body run 
 over your land, in that country, helter-skelter, as 
 they do here, shooting the game, so that a gentle 
 man has but little or no chance with his gun ?" 
 
 " Bah ! diable, no, Meester Deeck;" replied the 
 Frenchman ; " we give, in France, no liberty, ex 
 cept to de ladi." 
 
 " Yes, yes, to the women, I know," said Ri 
 chard ; " that is your Salick law. I read, sir, all 
 kinds of books ; of France, as well as England ; of 
 Greece, as well as Rome. But if I were in duke s 
 place, I would stick up advertisements to-morrow 
 morning, forbiding all persons to shoot, or trespass, 
 in any manner, on my woods. I could write such 
 an advertisement myself, in an hour, as would put 
 a stop to the thing at once." 
 
 " Richart," said Major Hartmann, very coolly, 
 knocking the ashes from his pipe into the spitting- 
 box, by his side, " now listen ; I have livet seven 
 ty-five years on ter Mohawk, and in ter woots. 
 
THE PIONEERS. 117 
 
 You hat petter mettle as mit ter deyvel, as mit ter 
 hunters. Tey live mit ter gun, and a rifle is pet 
 ter as ter law." 
 
 "A nt Marmaduke a Judge?" said Richard, in 
 dignantly. " Where is the use of being a Judge, 
 or having a Judge, if there is no law ? Damn the 
 fellow ! I have a great mind to sue him in the 
 morning myself, before Squire Doolittle, for med 
 dling with my leaders. I am not afraid of his rifle. 
 I can shoot too. I have hit a dollar, many a time, 
 at fifty rods." 
 
 " Thou hast missed more dollars than ever thou 
 hast hit, Dickon," exclaimed the cheerful voice of 
 the Judge again. u But we will now take our 
 evening s repast, which, I perceive by Remarka- 
 ble s physiognomy, is in the next room. Monsieur 
 Le Quoi, Miss Temple has a fair hand at your ser 
 vice. Will you lead the way, my child ?" 
 
 " Ah ! ma chere Mam selle, but too happy to do 
 so," said the polite Frenchman, while he offered 
 his hand ; " it is de consolashong, in my baneesh 
 to meet a smile from de fair ladi." 
 
 Mr. Grant and Mohegan continued. in the hall, 
 while the remainder of the party withdrew to an 
 eating parlour, if we except Benjamin, who civilly 
 remained, to close the rear after the divine, and to 
 open the front door for the exit of the Indian. 
 
 "John," said the divine, when the figure of 
 Judge Temple disappeared, the last of the group, 
 " to-morrow is the festival of the nativity of our 
 blessed Redeemer, when the church has appointed 
 prayers and thanksgivings, to be bfiered up by her 
 children, and when all are invited to partake of 
 the mystical elements. As you have taken up the 
 cross, and become a follower of good, and an es- 
 chewer of evil, John, I trust I shall see you before 
 the altar, with a contrite heart and a meek spirit." 
 
118 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 " John will come," said the Indian, betraying no 
 surprise; though he did not understand all the 
 terms used by the other. 
 
 " Yes," continued Mr. Grant, laying his hand 
 gently on the tawny shoulder of the aged chief, 
 " but it is not enough to be there in the body only ; 
 you must come in the spirit, and in truth. The 
 Redeemer died for all, for the poor Indian, as well 
 as for the white man. Heaven knows no differ 
 ence in colour ; nor must earth witness a separa 
 tion of the church. It is good and profitable, John, 
 to freshen the understanding, and support the wa 
 vering, by the observance of our holy festivals ; 
 but all form is but stench in the nostrils of the Holy 
 One, unless it be accompanied by a devout and 
 humble spirit." 
 
 The Indian stepped back a little, and, raising 
 his body to its utmost powers of erection, he 
 stretched his right arm on high, and dropped his 
 fore-finger downward, as if pointing from the hea 
 vens, and striking his other hand on his naked 
 breast, he said, with energy 
 
 " The eye of the Great Spirit can see from the 
 clouds ; the bosom of Mohegan is bare !" 
 
 " It is well, John, and I hope you will receive 
 profit and consolation from the performance of this 
 duty. The Great Spirit overlooks none of his 
 children ; and the man of the woods is as much an 
 object of his care, as he who dwells in a palace. I 
 wish you a good night, and pray God to bless you.* 
 
 The Indian bent his head, and they separated 
 the one to seek his hut, and the other to join the 
 party at the supper-table. While Benjamin wa? 
 opening the door for the passage of the chief, he 
 cried, in a tone that was meant to be quite con 
 soling 
 
 " The parson says the word that is true, Join. 
 
THE PIONEERS. 119 
 
 ff-so-be that they took count of the colour of a skin 
 in heaven, why, they might refuse to muster on 
 their books a Christian-born, like myself, just for 
 the matter of a little tan, from cruising in warm la 
 titudes ; though, for the matter of that, this damned 
 nor- wester is enough to whiten the skin of a black 
 amoor. Let the reefs out of your blanket, man, 
 or your red hide will hardly weather the night, 
 without a touch from the frost." 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 For here the exile met from every clime, 
 And ipoke, in friendship, every distant tongue 
 
 Campbtll. 
 
 WE have made our readers acquainted with some 
 variety in character and nations, in introducing the 
 most important personages of this legend to their 
 notice : but, in order to establish the fidelity of our 
 narrative, we will briefly attempt to explain the 
 " why and wherefore" of so motley a dramatis per 
 sons. 
 
 Europe, was, at the period of our tale, in the 
 commencement of that mighty commotion which 
 afterward shook her political institutions to their 
 centre. Louis the Sixteenth had been beheaded, 
 and a nation, once esteemed the most refined 
 among the civilized people of the world, was 
 changing her character, and substituting cruelty 
 for mercy, and subtlety and ferocity for magnani 
 mity and courage. Thousands of Frenchmen were 
 compelled to seek protection in distant lands. 
 Among the crowds who fled from France and her 
 islands, to the United Slates of America, was the 
 gentleman whom we have already mentioned as 
 Monsieur Le Quoi. He had been recommended 
 to the favour of Judge Temple, by the head of an 
 
THE PIONEERS. 121 
 
 eminent mercantile house in New- York, with 
 whom Marmaduke was in habits of intimacy, and 
 accustomed to an exchange of good offices. At 
 his first interview with the Frenchman, our Judge 
 had discovered him to be a man of breeding, and 
 one who had seen much more prosperous days in 
 his own country. From certain hints that had es 
 caped him, Monsieur Le Quoi was suspected of 
 having been a West-India planter, great numbers 
 of whom had fled from St. Domingo and the other 
 islands, and were now living in the Union, in a 
 state of comparative poverty, and some in absolute 
 want. The latter, was not, however, the lot of 
 Monsieur Le Quoi. He had but little, he acknow 
 ledged, but that little was enough to furnish, in the 
 language of the country, an assortment for a store. 
 The knowledge of Marmaduke was eminently 
 practical, and there was no part of a settler s life 
 with which he was not familiar. Under his direc 
 tion, Monsieur Le Quoi made some purchases, con 
 sisting of a few clothes ; some groceries, with a 
 good deal of tea and tobacco ; a quantity of iron 
 ware, among which was a large proportion of Bar 
 low s jack-knives, potash-kettles, and spiders; a 
 very formidable collection of crockery, of the 
 coarsest quality, and most uncouth forms ; together 
 with every other common article that the art of 
 man has devised for his wants, not forgetting the 
 luxuries of looking-glasses and Jew s-harps. With 
 this collection of valuables, Monsieur Le Quoi had 
 stepped behind a counter, and, with a wonderful 
 pliability of temperament, had dropped into his as 
 sumed character as gracefully as he had ever mov 
 ed in any other. The gentleness and suavity of 
 his manners rendered him extremely popular ; be 
 sides this, the women soon discovered that he had 
 a taste. His calicoes were the finest, or, in other 
 
 11 
 
THE PIONEERS. 
 
 words, the most showy, of any that were brought 
 into the country ; and it was impossible to look 
 at the prices asked for his goods by " so pretty a 
 spoken man." Through these conjoint means, the 
 affairs of Monsieur Le Quoi were again in a pros 
 perous condition, and he was looked up to by the 
 settlers as the second best man on the " Patent." 
 
 This term, Patent, which we have already used, 
 and for which we may have further occasion, meant 
 the district of country that had been originally 
 granted to old Major Effingham, by the " King s 
 letters patent," and which had now become, by 
 purchase under the act of confiscation, the proper 
 ty of Marmaduke Temple. It was a term in com 
 mon use, throughout the new parts of the state, 
 and was usually annexed to the landlord s name, 
 as " Temple s, or Effingham s Patent." 
 
 Major Hartmann was the descendant of a man, 
 who, in company with a number of his countrymen, 
 had migrated, with their families, from the banks 
 of the Rhine, to those of the Mohawk. This trans 
 migration had occurred as far back as the reign of 
 Queen Anne ; and their descendants were now 
 living, in great peace and plenty, on the fertile 
 borders of that beautiful stream. 
 
 The Germans or " High Butchers," as they 
 were called, to distinguish them from the original, 
 or Low Dutch colonists, were a very peculiar peo 
 ple. They possessed all the gravity of the latter, 
 without any of their phlegm ; and, like them, the 
 " High Butchers" were industrious, honest, and 
 economical. 
 
 Fritz, or Frederick Hartmann, was an epitome 
 of all the vices and virtues, foibles and excellencies 
 of his race. He was passionate, though silent, ob 
 stinate, and a good deal suspicious of strangers ; of 
 immoveable courage, inflexible honesty, and unde- 
 
THE PIONEERS. 123 
 
 viating in his friendships. Indeed, there was no 
 change about him, unless it were from grave to 
 gay. He was serious by months, and jolly by 
 weeks. He had early in their acquaintance, form 
 ed an attachment for Marmaduke Temple, who 
 was the only man, that could not talk High Dutch, 
 that ever gained his entire confidence. Four times 
 in each year, at periods equidistant, he left his low 
 stone dwelling, on the banks of the Mohawk, and 
 travelled the thirty miles, through the hills, to the 
 door of the mansion-house in Templeton. Here 
 he generally staid a week, and was reputed to 
 spend much of that time in riotous living, counte 
 nanced by Mr. Richard Jones. But every one 
 loved him, even to Remarkable Pettibone, to whom 
 he occasioned some additional trouble ; he was so 
 frank, so sincere, and, at times, so mirthful. He 
 was now in his regular Christmas visit, and had 
 not been in the village an hour, when Richard 
 summoned him to fill a seat in the sleigh, to meet 
 the landlord and his daughter. 
 
 Before explaining the character and situation of 
 Mr. Grant, it will be necessary to recur to times 
 far back in the brief history of the settlement. 
 
 There seems to be a tendency in human nature 
 to endeavour to provide for the wants of this world, 
 before our attention is turned to the business of 
 the other. Religion was a quality but little culti 
 vated amid the stumps of Temple s Patent, for the 
 first few years of its settlement ; but, as most of it? 
 inhabitants were from the moral states of Connec 
 ticut and Massachusetts, when the wants of nature 
 were satisfied, they began seriously to turn their 
 attention to the introduction of those customs and 
 observances, which had been the principal care of 
 their forefathers. There was certainly a great va 
 riety of opinions on the subject of grace and free- 
 
THE PIONEERS. 
 
 will among the tenantry of Marmaduke ; and, when 
 we take into consideration the variety of the reli 
 gious instruction which they received, it can easily 
 be seen, that it could not well be otherwise. 
 
 Soon after the village had been formally laid out 
 into the streets and blocks that resembled a city, 
 a meeting of its inhabitants had been convened, to 
 take into consideration the propriety of establish 
 ing an Academy ! This measure originated with 
 Richard, who, in truth, was much disposed to have 
 the institution designated a University, or at least 
 a College. Meeting after meeting was held, for 
 this purpose, year after year. The resolutions of 
 these assemblages appeared in the most conspicu 
 ous columns of a little, blue looking newspaper, 
 that was already issued weekly from the garret of 
 a dwelling-house in the village, and which the tra 
 veller might as often see stuck into the fissure of 
 a stake that had been erected, at the point where 
 the footpath from the log cabin of some settler en 
 tered the highway, as a- post-office for an individu 
 al. Sometimes the stake supported a small box, 
 and a whole neighbourhood received a weekly sup 
 ply, for their literary w r ants, at this point, where 
 the man who " rides post" regularly deposited a 
 bundle of the precious commodity. To these flou 
 rishing resolutions, which briefly recounted the ge 
 neral utility of education, the political and geogra 
 phical rights of the village of Templeton to a partici 
 pation in the favours of the regents of the univer 
 sity, and the salubrity of the air, and wholesome- 
 ness of the water, together with the cheapness of 
 food, and the superior state of morals in the neigh 
 bourhood, were uniformly annexed, in large Roman 
 capitals, the names of Marmaduke Temple, as chair 
 man, and Richard Jones, as secretary. 
 
 Happily for the success of this undertaking, the 
 
THE PIONEERS. 125 
 
 regents were not accustomed to resist these ap 
 peals to their generosity, whenever there was the 
 prospect of a donation to second the request. 
 Eventually Judge Temple concluded to bestow the 
 necessary land, and to erect the required edifice 
 chiefly at his own expense. The skill of Mr., or, 
 as he was now called, from the circumstance of his 
 having received the commission of a justice of the 
 peace, Squire DoolittJe, was again put in requisi 
 tion, and the science of Mr. Jones was once more 
 resorted to. 
 
 We shall not recount the different devices of 
 these architects on the occasion ; nor would it be de 
 corous so to do, seeing that there was a convocation 
 of the society of the ancient and honourable frater 
 nity " of the free and accepted masons," at the 
 head of whom was Richard, in the capacity of mas 
 ter, doubtless to approve or reject such of the 
 plans as, in their wisdom, they deemed to be for 
 the best. The knotty point was, however, soon 
 decided ; and, on the appointed day, the Brother 
 hood marched, in great state, displaying sundry 
 banners and mysterious symbols, each man with a 
 little mimic apron before him, from a most cunning 
 ly contrived apartment in the garret of the " Bold 
 Dragoon," an inn kept by one Captain Hollister, 
 to the site of the intended edifice. Here Richard 
 laid the corner-stone, with great state, amidst an 
 assemblage of more than half the men, and all the 
 women, within ten miles of Templeton. 
 
 In the course of the succeeding week, there was 
 another meeting of the people, not omitting swarms 
 of the gentler sex, when the abilities of Hiram, at 
 the " square rule," were put to the test of expe 
 riment. The frame fitted well ; and the skeleton 
 of the fabric was reared without a single accident, 
 if we except a few falls from horses, while the la- 
 11 * 
 
126 
 
 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 bourers were returning home in the dusk of the 
 evening. From this time, the work advanced with 
 great rapidity, and in the course of the season the 
 labour was completed ; the edifice standing, in all 
 its beauty and proportions, the boast of the village, 
 the study of the young aspirants for architectural 
 fame, and the admiration of every settler on the 
 Patent. 
 
 It was a long, narrow house, of wood, painted 
 white, and more than half windows ; and when 
 the observer stood at the western side of the build 
 ing, the edifice offered but a small obstacle to a full 
 view of the rising sun. It was, in truth, but a very 
 comfortless, open place, through which the day- 
 light shone with prodigious facility. On its front 
 were divers ornaments, in wood, designed by Ri 
 chard, and executed by Hiram ; but a window in 
 the centre of the second story, immediately over 
 the door, or grand entrance, and the " steeple " 
 were the pride of the building. The former was, 
 we believe, of the composite order, for it included 
 in its composition a multitude of ornaments, and a 
 great variety in figure. It consisted of an arched 
 compartment in the centre, with a square, and 
 smaller division on either side, the whole encased 
 in heavy frames, deeply and laboriously moulded 
 m pine wood, and lighted with a vast number of 
 blurred and green-looking glass, of those dimen 
 sions which are commonly called " eight by ten." 
 Blinds, that were intended to be painted green, 
 kept the window in a state of preservation, and 
 probably might have contributed to the effect of 
 the whole, had not the failure in the public funds, 
 which seems always to be incidental to any under 
 taking of this kind, left them in the sombre coat 
 of lead colour with which they had been originally 
 clothed, The steeple." was a little cupola, rear- 
 
THE PIONEERS. 127 
 
 ed on the very centre of the roof, on four tall pil 
 lars of pine, that were fluted with a gouge, and 
 loaded with mouldings. On the tops of the columns 
 was reared a dome, or cupola, resembling in shape 
 an inverted tea-cup without its bottom, from the 
 centre of which projected a spire, or shaft of wood, 
 transfixed with two iron rods, that bore on their 
 ends the letters N. S. E. and W., in the same 
 metal. The whole was surmounted by an imitation 
 of one of the finny tribe, carved in wood, by the 
 hands of Richard, and painted, what he called, a 
 " scale-colour." This animal Mr. Jones affirmed 
 to be an admirable resemblance of a great favourite 
 of the epicures in that country, which bore the title 
 of " lake-fish ;" and doubtless the assertion was 
 true ; for, although intended to answer the pur 
 poses of a weathercock, the fish was observed in 
 variably to look, with a longing eye, in the direc 
 tion of the beautiful sheet of water that lay imbed 
 ded in the mountains of Templeton. 
 
 For a short time after the charter of the regents 
 was received, the trustees of this institution em 
 ployed a graduate of one of the eastern colleges, 
 to instruct such youth as aspired to knowledge, 
 within the walls of the edifice which we have de 
 scribed. The upper part of the building was in 
 one apartment, and was intended for gala-days and 
 exhibitions; and the lower contained two, that 
 were intended for the great divisions of education, 
 viz. the Latin and the English scholars. The 
 former were never very numerous; though the 
 sounds of "nominative, pennaa; genitive, penny ," 
 were soon heard to issue from the windows of the 
 room, to the great delight and manifest edification 
 of the passenger. 
 
 Only one labourer in this temple of Minerva, 
 however, was knowr. to get so far as to attempt a 
 
I2b THE PIONEERS. 
 
 translation of Virgil. He, indeed, appeared at the 
 annual exhibition, to the prodigious exultation of 
 all his relatives, a farmer s family in the vicinity, 
 and repeated the whole of the first eclogue from 
 memory, observing the intonations of the dialogue 
 with much judgment and effect. The sounds, as 
 they proceeded from his mouth, of 
 
 " Titty-ree too patty-lee ree-coo-bans sub teg-mi-nee faa-gy 
 Syl-ves-trem ten-oo-i moo-sam med-i-taa-ris aa-ve-ny" 
 
 were the last that had been heard in that building, 
 as probably they were the first that had ever been 
 heard, in the same language, there or any where 
 else. For by this time the trustees had discovered 
 that they had anticipated the age, and the instruc- 
 ter, or principal^ was superseded by a master^ who 
 went on to teach the more humble lesson of " the 
 more haste the worse speed," in good, plain En 
 glish. 
 
 From this time, until the date of our incidents, 
 the Academy was a common country school ; and 
 the great room of the building was sometimes used 
 as a court-room, on extraordinary trials; some 
 times for conferences of the religious, and the mo 
 rally disposed in the evening ; at others for a ball, 
 in the afternoon, given under the auspices of Ri 
 chard ; and on Sundays, invariably, as a place of 
 public worship. 
 
 When an itinerant priest, of the persuasion of 
 the Methodists, Baptists, Universalists, or of the 
 more numerous sect of the Presbyterians, was ac 
 cidentally in the neighbourhood, he was ordinarily 
 invited to officiate, and was commonly rewarded 
 for his services by a collection in a hat, before the 
 congregation separated. When no such regular 
 minister offered, a kind of colloquial prayer or two 
 was made by some of the more gifted members, 
 
THE PIONEERS. 129 
 
 and a sermon was usually read, from Sterne, by 
 Mr. Richard Jones. 
 
 The consequence of this desultory kind of priest 
 hood was, as we have already intimated, a great 
 diversity in opinion, on the more abstruse points of 
 our faith. Each sect had its adherents, though 
 neither was regularly organized and disciplined. 
 Of the religious education of Marmaduke, we have 
 already written, nor was the doubtful character of 
 his faith completely removed by his marriage. The 
 mother of Elizabeth was an Episcopalian, as, indeed, 
 was the mother of the Judge himself; and the good 
 taste of Marmaduke revolted at the familiar collo 
 quies which the leaders of the conferences held 
 with the Deity, in their nightly meetings. In form, 
 he was certainly an Episcopalian, though not a 
 sectary of that denomination. On the other hand, 
 Richard was as rigid in the observance of the ca 
 nons of his church as he was inflexible in his opi 
 nions. Indeed, he had once or twice essayed to 
 introduce the Episcopal form of service, on the 
 Sundays that their pulpit was vacant ; but Richard 
 was a good deal addicted to carrying all things to 
 an excess, and then there was something so papal 
 in his air, that the greater part of his hearers de 
 serted him on the second Sabbath on the third, 
 his only auditor was Ben Pump ! 
 
 Before the war of the revolution, the English 
 church was supported, in their colonies, with much 
 interest, by some of its adherents, in the mother 
 country, and a few of the congregations were very 
 amply endowed. But, for a season, after the in 
 dependence of the states was established, this sect 
 of Christians languished, for the want of the high 
 est order of its priesthood. Pious and suitable 
 divines were at length selected, and sent to the 
 inother country, to receive that authority, which, 
 
130 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 it is understood, can only be transmitted directly 
 from one to the other, and thus obtain, in order to 
 preserve, that unity in their churches, which pro 
 perly belonged to a people of the same nation. 
 But unexpected difficulties presented themselves, 
 in the oaths with which the policy of England had 
 fettered their establishment ; and much time was 
 spent, before a conscientious sense of duty would 
 permit the prelates of Britain to delegate the au 
 thority which was so earnestly sought. Time, 
 patience, and zeal, however, removed every im 
 pediment ; and the venerable men, who had been 
 set apart by the American churches, at length 
 returned to their expecting diocesses, endowed 
 with the most elevated functions of their earthly 
 church. Priests and deacons were ordained ; and 
 missionaries provided, to keep alive the expiring 
 flame of devotion in such members as were depriv 
 ed of the ordinary ministrations, by dwelling in 
 new and unorganized districts. 
 
 Of this number was Mr. Grant. He had been 
 sent into the county of which Templeton was the 
 capital, and had been kindly invited by Marma- 
 duke, and officiously pressed by Richard, to take 
 up his abode in the village itself. A small and 
 humble dwelling was prepared for his family, and 
 the divine had made his appearance in the place 
 but a few days previously to the time of his intro 
 duction to the reader. As his forms were entirely 
 new to most of the inhabitants, and a clergyman of 
 another denomination had previously occupied the 
 field, by engaging the academy, the first Sunday 
 after his arrival was suffered to pass in silence ; 
 but now that his rival had passed on, like a me 
 teor, filling the air with the light of his wisdom, 
 Richard was empowered to give notice, that a Pub 
 lic worship, after the forms of the Protestant Epis- 
 
THE PIONEERS, 131 
 
 copal Church, would be held, on the night before 
 Christmas, in the long-room of the academy in 
 Templeton, by the Rev. Mr. Grant " 
 
 This annunciation excited great commotion 
 among the sectaries to whom it was made. Some 
 wondered as to the nature of the exhibition ; 
 others sneered ; but a far greater part, recollecting 
 the essays of Richard in that way, and mindful of 
 the liberality, or rather laxity, of Marmaduke s 
 notions on the subject of sectarianism, thought it 
 most prudent to be silent. 
 
 The expected evening was, however, the won 
 der of the hour; nor was the curiosity at all dimi 
 nished, when Richard and Benjamin, on the morn 
 ing of the eventful day, were seen to issue from 
 the woods in the neighbourhood of the village, 
 each bearing on his shoulders a large bunch of 
 evergreens. This worthy pair was observed to 
 enter the academy, and carefully to fasten the door, 
 after which their proceedings remained a profound 
 secret to the rest of the village ; Mr. Jones, before 
 he commenced this mysterious business, having 
 informed the schoolmaster, to the great delight of 
 the white-headed flock he governed, that there 
 could be no school that day. Marmaduke was 
 apprised of all these preparations, by letter, and it 
 was especially arranged, that he and Elizabeth 
 should arrive in season, to participate in the so 
 iemnities of the evening. 
 
 After this digression, we shall return to our nar 
 ratire. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Now all admire, in each high-flavour d dish 
 The capabilities of flesh fowl fish ; 
 In order due each guest assumes his station 
 Throbs high his breast with fond anticipation, 
 And prelibates the joys of mastication. 
 
 Heliogabaliad 
 
 THE apartment to which Monsieur Le Quoi 
 handed Elizabeth, communicated with the hall, 
 through the door that led under the urn which was 
 supposed to contain the ashes of Dido. The room 
 was spacious, and of very just proportions; but ID 
 its ornaments and furniture, the same diversity of 
 taste, and imperfection of execution, were to be 
 observed, as existed in the hall. Of furniture, 
 there were a dozen green, wooden arm-chairs^ 
 with cushions of moreen, taken from the same 
 piece as the petticoat of Remarkable. The tables 
 were spread, and their materials and workmanship 
 could not be seen ; but they were heavy, and of 
 great size. There was an enormous glass, in a 
 gilt frame, hung against the wall, and a cheerful 
 fire, of the hard or sugar-maple, burning on the 
 hearth. The latter was the first object that struck 
 the attention of the Judge, who, on beholding it, 
 exclaimed, rather angrily, to Richard 
 
 " How often have I forbidden the use of the 
 sugar-maple for fires, in my dwelling. The sight 
 of that sap, as it exudes with the heat from the 
 
THE PIONEERS 133 
 
 ends of those logs, is painful to me, Richard. 
 Really, it behoves the owner of woods so exten 
 sive as mine, to be cautious what example he sets 
 to his people, who are already felling the forests, 
 as if no end could be found to their treasures, nor 
 any limits to their extent. If we go on in this 
 way, twenty years hence we shall want fuel." 
 
 " Fuel in these hills, cousin duke !" exclaimed 
 Richard in derision " fuel for our fires ! why, you 
 might as well predict, that the fish will die, for the 
 want of water in the lake, because I intend, when 
 the frost gets out of the ground, to lead one or two 
 of the springs, through logs, into the village. But 
 you are always a little wild on such subjects, Mar- 
 maduke." 
 
 " Is it wildness," returned the Judge, earnestly, 
 " to condemn a practice, which devotes these jew 
 els of the forest, these precious gifts of nature, 
 these mines of comfort and wealth, to the common 
 uses of a fire-place ? But I must, and will, the in 
 stant that the snow is oft the earth, send out a 
 party into the mountains to explore for coal." 
 
 " Coal !" echoed Richard ; " who the devil do 
 you think will dig for coal, when in hunting for a 
 bushel, he would have to rip up more roots of 
 trees, than would keep him in fuel for a twelve 
 month ? Poh ! poh ! Marmaduke, you should 
 leave the management of these things to me, who 
 have a natural turn that way. It was I that order 
 ed this fire, and a noble one it is, to warm the blood 
 in the veins of my pretty cousin Bess." 
 
 " The motive, then, must be your apology, Dick 
 on," said the Judge. " But, gentlemen, we are 
 waiting. Elizabeth, my child, take the head of 
 the table ; Richard, I see, means to spare me the 
 trouble of carving, by sitting opposite to you." 
 
 " To be sure I do," cried Richard ; " here is a 
 12 
 
134 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 turkey to carve ; and I flatter myself that I under 
 stand carving a turkey, or, for that matter, a goose, 
 as well as any man alive. Mr. Grant ! where s 
 Mr. Grant ? will you please to say grace, sir ? 
 Every thing is getting cold. Take a thing from 
 the fire, this cold weather, and it will freeze in 
 five minutes. Mr. Grant ! we want you to say 
 grace. For what we are about to receive, the 
 Lord make us thankful. Come, sit down, sit 
 down. Do you eat wing or breast, cousin Bess." 
 
 But Elizabeth had not taken her seat, nor was 
 she in readiness to receive either the wing or 
 breast. Her laughing, dark eyes, were glancing 
 at the arrangements of the table, and the quality 
 and selection of the food. The eyes of her father 
 soon met the wondering looks of his daughter, and 
 he said, with a smile 
 
 " You perceive, my child, how much we are in 
 debted to Remarkable, for her skill in housewife 
 ry ; she has indeed provided a noble repast ; such 
 as well might stop the cravings of hunger." 
 
 " Law !" said Remarkable, " I m glad if the 
 Judge is pleased ; but I m notional that you ll find 
 the sa ce overdone. I thought, as Elizabeth was 
 coming home, that a body could do no less than 
 make things agreeable." 
 
 " My daughter has now grown to woman s estate, 
 and is from this moment mistress of my house," 
 said the Judge, sternly ; " it is proper that all, who 
 live with me, address her as Miss Temple." 
 
 " Do tell !" exclaimed Remarkable, a little 
 aghast ; " well, who ever heerd of a young wo 
 man s being called Miss ? If the Judge had a wife 
 now, I should nt think of calling her any thing but 
 Miss Temple ; but 
 
 " Having nothing but a daughter, you will ob- 
 
THE PIONEERS. 135 
 
 serve that style to her, if you please, in future," 
 interrupted Marmaduke. 
 
 As the Judge looked seriously displeased, and, 
 at such moments, carried a particularly command 
 ing air with him, the wary housekeeper made no 
 reply ; and, Mr. Grant entering the room, the 
 whole party were soon seated at the table. As 
 the arrangements of this repast were much in the 
 prevailing taste of that period and country, we 
 shall endeavour to give a short description of the 
 appearance of the banquet. 
 
 The table-linen was of the most beautiful da 
 mask, and the plates and dishes of real china, an 
 article of great luxury at this early period in Ame 
 rican commerce. The knives and forks were of 
 exquisitely polished steel, and were set in uncloud 
 ed ivory. So much, being furnished by the wealth 
 of Marmaduke, was not only comfortable, but even 
 elegant. The contents of the several dishes, and 
 their positions, however, were the result of the 
 sole judgment of Remarkable. Before Elizabeth, 
 was placed an enormous roasted turkey, and be 
 fore Richard, one boiled. In the centre of the ta 
 ble, stood a pair of heavy silver castors, surround 
 ed by four dishes ; one a fricassee, that consisted of 
 gray squirrels ; another of fish fried ; a third of 
 fish boiled; the last was a venison steak. Be 
 tween these dishes and the turkeys, stood, on the 
 one side, a prodigious chine of roasted bear s meat, 
 and on the other a boiled leg of delicious mutton, 
 Interspersed among this load of meats, was every 
 species of vegetables that the season and country 
 afforded. The four corners were garnished with 
 plates of cake. On one was piled certain curious 
 ly twisted and complicated figures, called " nut- 
 cakes." On another were heaps of a black-look 
 ing substance, which, receiving its hue from mo- 
 
136 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 lasses, was properly termed " sweet-cake ;" a 
 wonderful favourite in the coterie of Remarkable. 
 A third was filled, to use the language of the house 
 keeper, with " cards of gingerbread ;" and the last 
 held a " plum-cake," so called from the number of 
 large raisins that were showing their black heads, 
 in a substance of a wonderfully similar colour. 
 At each corner of the table stood saucers, filled 
 with a thick fluid, of somewhat equivocal colour 
 and consistence, variegated with small dark lumps 
 of a substance that resembled nothing but itself, 
 which Remarkable termed her " sweet-meats." 
 At the side of each plate, which was placed bot 
 tom upwards, with its knife and fork most accu 
 rately crossed above it, stood another, of smaller 
 size, containing a motley-looking pie, composed of 
 triangular slices of apple, mince, pumpkin, cran 
 berry, and custard^ so arranged as to form an en 
 tire whole. Decanters of brandy, rum, gin, and 
 wine, with sundry pitchers of cider, beer, and one 
 hissing vessel of " flip," were put wherever an 
 opening would admit of their introduction. Not 
 withstanding the size of the tables, there was 
 scarcely a spot where the rich damask could be 
 seen, so crowded were the dishes, and their asso 
 ciated bottles, plates, and saucers. The object 
 seemed to be profusion, and it was obtained en 
 tirely at the expense of order and elegance. 
 
 All the guests, as well as the Judge himself, 
 seemed perfectly familiar with this description of 
 fare, for each one commenced eating, with an ap 
 petite that promised to do great honour to Re- 
 markable s taste and skill. What rendered this 
 attention to the repast a little surprising, was the 
 fact, that both the German and Richard had been 
 summoned from another table, to meet the judge ; 
 but Major Haitmann both ate and drank without 
 
THE PIONEERS. 137 
 
 any rule, when on his excursions ; and Mr. Jones 
 invariably made it a point to participate in the bu 
 siness in hand, let it be what it would. The host 
 seemed to think some apology necessary for the 
 warmth he had betrayed on the subject of the lire- 
 wood, and when the party were comfortably seat 
 ed, and engaged with their knives and forks, he 
 observed 
 
 " The wastefulness cf the settlers, with the no 
 ble trees of this country, is shocking, Monsieur Le 
 Quoi, as doubtless you have noticed. I have seen 
 a man fell a pine, when he has been in want of 
 fencing-stuff, and roll its first cuts into the gap, 
 where he left it to rot, though its top would have 
 made rails enough to answer his purpose, and its 
 but would have sold in the Philadelphia market 
 for twenty dollars." 
 
 " And how the devil I beg your pardon, Mr. 
 Grant," interrupted Richard ; " but how is the 
 poor devil to get his logs to the Philadelphia mar 
 ket, pray ? put them in his pocket, ha ! as you 
 would a handful of chestnuts, or a bunch of chicker- 
 berries? I should like to see you walking up 
 High-street, with a pine log in each pocket ! 
 Poh ! poh ! cousin duke, there are trees enough 
 for us all, and some to spare. Why, I can hardly 
 tell which way the wind blows, when I m out in 
 the clearings, they are so thick, and so tall ; I 
 couldn t at all, if it was nt for the clouds, and I 
 happen to know all the points of the compass, as 
 it were, by heart." 
 
 " Ay ! ay ! Squire," cried Benjamin, who had 
 now entered, and taken his place behind the 
 Judge s chair, a little aside withal, in order to be 
 ready for any observation like the present ; " look 
 aloft, sir, look aloft. The old seamen say, c that 
 ;he devil wouldn t make a sailor, unless he look d 
 12* 
 
138 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 aloft. As for the compass, why, there is no such 
 thing as steering without one. I m sure I never 
 lose sight of the main-top, as I call the Squire s 
 look-out, but I set my compass, d ye see, and take 
 the bearings and distance of things, in order to 
 work out my course, if-so-be that it should cloud 
 up, or the tops of the trees should shut out the 
 light of heaven. The steeple of St. Paul s, now 
 that we have got it on end, is a great help to the 
 navigation of the woods, for, by the lord Harry, as 
 I was" 
 
 " It is well, Benjamin," interrupted Marmaduke, 
 observing his daughter, who manifested evident 
 displeasure at the major-domo s familiarity ; " but 
 you forget there is a lady in company, and the wo 
 men love to do most of the talking themselves." 
 
 " The Judge says the true word," cried Benja 
 min, with one of his discordant laughs : " now here 
 is Mistress Remarkable Prettybones ; just take the 
 stopper off her tongue, and you ll hear a gabbling, 
 worse like than if you should happen to fall to lee 
 ward, in crossing a French privateer, or some such 
 thing, mayhap, as a dozen monkeys stowed in one 
 bag." 
 
 It were impossible to say, how perfect an illus 
 tration of the truth of .Benjamin s assertion the 
 housekeeper would have furnished, if she dare ; 
 but the Judge looked sternly at her, and, unwill 
 ing to incur his resentment, yet unable to contain 
 her anger, she threw herself out of the room, with 
 a toss of her body, that nearly separated her frail 
 form in the centre. 
 
 " Richard," said Marmaduke, observing that his 
 displeasure had produced the desired effect, " can 
 you inform me of any thing concerning the youth, 
 whom I so unfortunately wounded ? I found him 
 on the mountain, hunting in company with the 
 
THE PIONEERS. 139 
 
 Leather-stocking, as if they were of the same fami 
 ly ; but there is a manifest difference in their man- 
 ners. The youth delivers himself in chosen lan 
 guage ; such as is seldom heard in these hills, and 
 such as occasions great surprise to me, how one so 
 meanly clad, and following so lowly a pursuit, could 
 attain. Mohegan also knew him. Doubtless he 
 is a tenant of Natty s hut. Did you notice the 
 language of the lad, Monsieur Le Quoi ?" 
 
 " Certainement, Monsieur Tempi ," returned 
 the Frenchman, " he deed conevairse in de most 
 excellent Anglaise." 
 
 " The boy is not a miracle," exclaimed Richard ; 
 " I ve known children that were sent to school 
 early, talk much better, before they were twelve 
 years old. There was Zareed Coe, old Nehemi- 
 ah s son, who first settled on the beaverdam mea 
 dow, he could write almost as good a hand as my 
 self, when he was fourteen ; though it s true, I 
 helped to teach him a little, in the long evenings 
 But this shooting gentleman ought to be put in the 
 stocks, if he ever takes a rein in his hand again. 
 He is the most awkward fellow about a horse I 
 ever met with. I dare say, he never drove any 
 thing but oxen in his life." 
 
 " There I think, Dickon, you do the lad injus 
 tice," said the Judge ; "he uses much discretion in 
 critical moments. Dost thou not think so, Bess ?" 
 
 There was nothing in this question particularly 
 to excite the blushes of a maiden, but Elizabeth 
 started from the reverie into which she had fallen, 
 and coloured to her forehead, as she answered 
 
 " To me, my dear sir, he appeared extremely 
 skilful, and prompt, and courageous ; but perhaps 
 cousin Richard will say, I am as ignorant as the 
 gentleman himself." 
 
140 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 " Gentleman !" echoed Richard ; " do you call 
 such chaps gentlemen, at school, Elizabeth ?" 
 
 " Every man is a gentleman, who knows how to 
 treat a woman with respect and consideration," 
 returned the young lady, promptly, and with an air 
 of a little dignity. 
 
 " So much for hesitating to appear before the 
 heiress in his shirt sleeves," cried Richard, wink 
 ing at Monsieur Le Quoi, who returned the hint 
 with one eye, while he rolled the other, with an 
 expression of great sympathy, towards the young 
 lady. " Well, well, to me he seemed any thing 
 but a gentleman. I must say, however, for the 
 lad, that he draws a good trigger, and has a true 
 aim. He s good at shooting a buck, ha ! Marma- 
 duke ? 
 
 " Richart," said Major Hartmann, turning his 
 grave countenance towards the gentleman he ad 
 dressed, with much earnestness, u ter poy is goot. 
 He savet your life, and my life, and ter life of To- 
 minie Grant, and ter life of ter Frenchman ; and, 
 Richart, he shall never vant a pet to sleep in vile 
 olt Fritz Hartmann has a shingle to cover his bet 
 mit." 
 
 " Well, well, as you please, old gentleman," re 
 turned Mr. Jones, endeavouring to look excessively 
 indifferent ; " put him into your own stone house, 
 if you will, Major. I dare say the lad never slept 
 in any thing better than a bark shanty in his life, 
 unless it was some such hut as the cabin of Leather- 
 stocking. I prophesy you will soon spoil him ; 
 any one could see how proud he grew, in a short 
 time, just because he stood by my horses heads, 
 while I turned them into the highway." 
 
 " No, no, my old friend," cried Marmaduke, " it 
 shall be my task, to provide in some manner for 
 the youth : I owe him a debt of my own, besides 
 
THE PIONEERS. 141 
 
 the service he has done me, through my friends. 
 And yet I anticipate some little trouble, in induc 
 ing him to accept of my services. He showed a 
 marked dislike, I thought, Bess, to my offer of a 
 residence within these walls for life." 
 
 " Really, dear sir," said Elizabeth, projecting 
 her beautiful under-lip, " I have not studied the 
 gentleman so closely, as to read his feelings in his 
 countenance. I thought he might very naturally 
 feel pain from his wound, and therefore pitied him ; 
 but" and as she spoke she glanced her eye, with 
 a conscious timidity, towards the major-domo " I 
 dare say, sir, that Benjamin can tell you some 
 thing about him. He cannot have been in the 
 village, and Benjamin not have seen him often." 
 
 " Ay ! I have seen the boy before," said Benja 
 min, who wanted no other encouragement to speak : 
 " he has been backing and filling in the wake of 
 Natty Bumppo, through the mountains, after deer, 
 like a Dutch long-boat in tow of an Albany sloop. 
 He carries a good rifle too. The Leather-stock 
 ing said, in my hearing, before Betty Hollister s 
 bar-room fire, no later than the Tuesday night, 
 that the younker was certain death to the wild 
 beasts. If-so-be he can kill the wild-cat, that has 
 been heard moaning on the lake side, since the 
 hard frosts and deep snows have driven the deer 
 to her, he will be doing the thing that is good. 
 Your wild-cat is a bad ship-mate, and should be 
 made to cruise out of the track of all Christian 
 men." 
 
 " Lives he in the hut of Bumppo ?" asked Mar- 
 maduke, with some interest ; and the full black 
 eyes of Elizabeth resting intently on the scorched 
 visage of the steward, while she waited his reply. 
 
 " Cheek by jowl," said Benjamin ; " the Wednes 
 day will be three weeks since he first hove in 
 
142 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 sight, in company with Leather-stocking. They 
 had captured a wolf between them, and had brought 
 in his scalp for the bounty. That Mister Bump-ho 
 has a handy turn with him, in taking off a scalp ; 
 and there s them, in this here village, who say he 
 larnt the trade by working on Christian men. If- 
 so-be that there is truth in the saying, and I com 
 manded along shore here, as your honour does, why, 
 d ye see, I d bring him to the gangway for it yet. 
 There s a very pretty post rigged alongside of the 
 stocks ; and for the matter of a cat, I can fit one 
 with my own hands ; ay ! and use it too, for the 
 want of a better." 
 
 " You are not to credit all the idle tales, sir, 
 that you hear of Natty," said the Judge : " he has 
 a kind of natural right to gain a livelihood in these 
 mountains ; and if the idlers in the village take it 
 into their heads to annoy him, as they sometimes 
 do reputed rogues, they shall find him protected 
 by the strong arm of the law." 
 
 " Ter rifle is petter as ter law," said the Major, 
 sententiously. 
 
 " That for his rifle !" exclaimed Richard, snap 
 ping his fingers ; " Ben is right, and I" He 
 
 was stopped by the sounds of a common shipbell, 
 that had been elevated to the belfry of the acade 
 my, which now announced, by its incessant ring 
 ing, that the hour for the appointed service had 
 arrived. " c For this, and every other instance of 
 his goodness I beg pardon, Mr. Grant ; will you 
 please to return thanks, sir ? it is time we should 
 be moving, as we are the only Episcopalians in the 
 neighbourhood ; that is, I, and Benjamin, and Eli 
 zabeth." 
 
 The divine arose, and performed the office, 
 meekly and fervently, and the whole party instant 
 ly prepared themselves for the church or rather 
 academy. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 u And, calling sinful man to pray, 
 Loud, long, and deep the bell had toll d." 
 
 Scott s Bwrgliei. 
 
 WHILE Richard and Monsieur Le Quoi, attended 
 by Benjamin, proceeded to the academy, by afoot- 
 path that was trodden in the snow, across the 
 grounds of the Mansion-house, the Judge, his 
 daughter, the Divine, and the Major, took a more 
 circuitous route to the same place, through the 
 streets of the village. 
 
 The moon had risen, during the time that our 
 travellers were housed, and its orb was shedding a 
 flood of light over the dark outline of pines, which 
 crowned the eastern mountain. In other climates, 
 the sky would have been thought clear and lucid 
 for a noon-tide. The stars twinkled in the hea 
 vens, like the last faint glimmerings of distant fire, 
 so much were they obscured by the overwhelming 
 radiance of the atmosphere; the rays from the 
 moon striking upon the smooth white surfaces of 
 the lake and fields, reflecting upwards a light that 
 was brightened by the spotless colour of the im 
 mense bodies of snow, which covered the earth. 
 
 Elizabeth employed herself with reading the 
 signs, one of which appeared over almost every 
 
144 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 door, while the sleigh moved, steadily and at an 
 easy gait, along the principal street. Not only 
 new occupations, but names that were strangers to 
 her ears, met her bewildered gaze, at every step 
 they proceeded. The very houses seemed chang 
 ed. This had been altered by an addition ; that 
 had been painted ; another had been erected on 
 the site of an old acquaintance, which had been 
 banished from the earth almost as soon as it made 
 its appearance on it. All were, however, pouring 
 forth their inmates, who uniformly held their way 
 towards the point, where the expected exhibition 
 of the taste of Richard and Benjamin was to be 
 made. 
 
 After viewing the buildings, which really ap 
 peared to some advantage, under the bright but 
 mellow light of the moon, our heroine turned her 
 eyes to a scrutiny of the different figures that they 
 passed, in search of any form that she knew. But 
 all seemed alike, as muffled in cloaks, hoods, coats, 
 or tippets, they glided along the narrow passages 
 in the snow, which led under the houses, half hid 
 by the bank that had been thrown up in excavat 
 ing the deep path in which they trod. Once or 
 twice she thought there was a stature, or a gait, 
 that she recollected, but the person who owned it 
 instantly disappeared behind one of those enormous 
 piles of wood, that lay before most of the doors. 
 It was only as they turned from the main street 
 into another that intersected it at right angles, and 
 which led directly to the place of meeting, that she 
 recognised a face and building that she knew. 
 
 The house stood at one of the principal corners 
 in the village, and, by its well-trodden door- way, 
 as well as the sign, that was swinging, with a kind 
 of doleful sound, in the blasts that occasionally 
 swept down the lake, was clearly one of the most 
 
THE PIONEERS. 145 
 
 frequented inns in the place. The building was 
 only of one story, but the dormant windows in the 
 roof, the paint, the window-shutters, and cheerful 
 fire that shone through the open door, gave it an 
 air of comfort, that was not possessed by many of 
 its neighbours. The sign was suspended from a 
 common ale-house post, and represented the figure 
 of a horseman, armed with sabre and pistols, and 
 surmounted by a bear-skin cap, with a fiery animal 
 that he bestrode " rampant." All these particu 
 lars were easily to be seen, by the aid of the moon, 
 together with a row of somewhat illegible writing, 
 in black paint, but in which Elizabeth, to whom 
 the whole was familiar, read with facility " The 
 Bold Dragoon." 
 
 A man and a woman were issuing from the 
 door of this habitation, as the sleigh was passing. 
 The former moved with a stiff, military step, that 
 was a good deal heightened by a limp that he had 
 in one teg ; but the woman advanced with a mea 
 sure and an air, that seemed not particularly re 
 gardful of what she might encounter. The light 
 of the moon fell directly upon her full, broad, and 
 red visage ; exhibiting her masculine countenance, 
 under the mockery of a ruffled cap, that was in 
 tended evidently to soften the lineaments of her 
 features. A small bonnet of black silk, and of a 
 slightly formal cut, was placed on the back of her 
 head, but so as not to shade her visage in the least. 
 Her face, as it encountered the rays of the moon 
 from the east, seemed not unlike a sun rising in the 
 west. She advanced, with masculine strides, to 
 intercept the sleigh, and the Judge, directing the 
 namesake of the Grecian king, who held the lines, 
 to check his horses, the parties were soon near to 
 each other. 
 
 luck to ye, and a wilcome home, Jooge !" 
 13 
 
146 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 cried the female, with a strong Irish accent ; "and 
 I m sure it s to me that ye r always wilcome. 
 Sure ! and there s Miss Lizzy, and a fine young 
 woman is she grown. What a heartach would she, 
 be giving the young men now, if there was sich a 
 thing as a rigiment in the town. Och ! but it s 
 idle to talk of sich vanities, while the bell is call 
 ing us to mateing, jist as we shall be call d away 
 unexpictedly, some day, when we are the laist 
 calkilating on it. Good even, Major ; will I make 
 the bowl of gin-toddy the night? or it s likely 
 ve ll stay at the big house, the Christmas eve, and 
 the very night of ye r getting there ?" 
 
 " I am glad to see you, Mrs. Hollister," return 
 ed the voice of Elizabeth. " I have been trying 
 to find a face that I knew, since we left the door 
 of the Mansion-house, but none have I seen except 
 your own. Your house, too, is unaltered, while 
 all the others are so changed, that, but for the 
 places where they stand, they would be utter 
 strangers. I observe you keep also the dear sign, 
 that I saw cousin Richard paint, and even the name 
 at the bottom, about which, you may remember, 
 you had the disagreement." 
 
 " Is it the bould dragoon ye mane ? and what 
 name would ye have, who niverwas known by any 
 other, as my husband here, the Captain, can testify 
 to. He was a pleasure to wait upon, and was iver 
 the foremost in the hour of need. Och ! but he 
 had a sudden ind ! But it s to be hoped, that he 
 was justified by the cause. And it s not Parson 
 Grant there, who ll gainsay that same. Yes, yes 
 the Squire would paint, and so I thought that 
 we might have his face up there, who had so often 
 shared good and evil wid us. The eyes is no so 
 large nor so fiery as the Captain s own, but the 
 whiskers and the cap is as like as two paas. Well, 
 
THE PIONEERS. 147 
 
 well I ll not keep ye in the cowld, talking, but 
 will drop in, the morrow, after sarvice, and jist ask 
 ye how ye do. It s our bounden duty to make the 
 most of this present, and to go to the house which 
 is open to all : so God bless ye, and keep ye from 
 evil. Will I make the gin-twist the night, or no, 
 Major ?" 
 
 To this question the German replied, very 
 sententiously, in the affirmative ; and, after a few 
 words had passed between the husband of this 
 fiery-faced hostess and the Judge, the sleigh moved 
 on. It soon reached the door of the academy, 
 where the party alighted and entered the build 
 ing. 
 
 In the mean time Mr. Jones and his two compa 
 nions, having a much shorter distance to journey, 
 had arrived before the appointed place several 
 minutes sooner than the party in the sleigh. In 
 stead of hastening into the room, in order to enjoy 
 the astonishment of the settlers, Richard placed 
 a hand in either pocket of his surtout, and affected 
 to walk about, in front of the academy, with great 
 indifference. 
 
 The villagers proceeded uniformly into the build 
 ing, with a decorum and gravity that nothing could 
 move, on such occasions ; but with a haste that 
 was probably a little heightened by curiosity. 
 Those who came in from the adjacent country, 
 spent some little time in placing certain blue and 
 white blankets over their horses, before they pro 
 ceeded to indulge their desire to view the interior 
 of the house. Most of these men Richard ap 
 proached, and inquired after the health and condi 
 tion of their families. The readiness with which 
 he mentioned the names of even the children, 
 showed how very familiarly acquainted he was 
 with their circumstances ; and the nature of the 
 
148 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 answers he received, proved that he was a general 
 favourite. 
 
 At length one of the pedestrians from the vil 
 lage stopped also, and fixed an earnest gaze at a 
 new brick edifice, that was throwing a long shadow 
 across the fields of snow, as it rose, \vith a beauti 
 ful gradation of light and shade, under the rays of 
 a full moon. In front of the academy was a vacant 
 piece of ground, that was intended for a public 
 square. On the side opposite to where stood Mr. 
 Jones, the new and as yet unfinished church of 
 St. Paul s was erected. This edifice had been 
 reared during the preceding summer, by the aid of 
 what was called a subscription ; though all, or 
 nearly all, of the money it had cost, came from the 
 pocket of the landlord. It had been built under 
 the strong conviction of the necessity of a more 
 seemly place of worship than " the long room of 
 the academy," and under an implied agreement, 
 that, after its completion, the question should be 
 fairly put to the people, that they might decide to 
 what denomination it should belong. Of course, 
 this expectation kept alive a strong excitement, in 
 some few of the sectaries who were interested in 
 its decision ; though but little was said openly on 
 the subject. Had Judge Temple espoused the 
 cause of any particular sect, the question would 
 have been immediately put at rest, for his influ 
 ence was too powerful to be opposed ; but he de 
 clined all interference in the matter, positively re 
 fusing to lend even the weight of his name on the 
 side of Richard, who had secretly given an assu 
 rance to his Diocesan, that both the building and 
 the congregation would cheerfully come within 
 the pale of the Protestant Episcopal Church. But 
 when the neutrality of the Judge was clearly as 
 certained, Mr. Jones discovered that he had to 
 
THE PIONEERS. 149 
 
 contend with a stiff-necked people. His first mea 
 sure was to go among them, and commence a course 
 of reasoning, in order to bring them round to his 
 own way of thinking. They all heard him pa 
 tiently, and not a man uttered a word in reply, in 
 the way of argument : and Richard thought, by 
 the time that he had gone through the settlement, 
 the thing was to be conclusively decided in his fa 
 vour. Willing to strike while the iron was hot, he 
 called a meeting, through the newspaper, with a 
 view to decide the question by a vote, at once. 
 Not a soul attended ; and one of the most anxious 
 afternoons that he had ever known, was spent by 
 Richard in a vain discussion with Mrs. Hollister, 
 who strongly contended that the Methodist (her 
 own) church was the best entitled to, and most 
 deserving of the possession of the new tabernacle. 
 Richard now perceived that he had been too san 
 guine, and had fallen into the error of all those who, 
 ignorantly, deal with that wary and sagacious peo 
 ple. He assumed a disguise himself, that is, as 
 well as he knew how, and proceeded step by step 
 to advance his purpose. 
 
 The task of erecting the building had been unani 
 mously transferred to Mr. Jones and Hiram Doo- 
 little. Together they had built the mansion-house, 
 the academy, and the jail; and they alone knew 
 how to plan and rear such a structure as was now 
 required. Early in the day, these architects had 
 made an equitable division of their duties. To the 
 former was assigned the duty of making all the 
 plans, and to the latter, the labour of superintend 
 ing the execution. 
 
 Availing himself of this advantage, Richard si 
 lently determined that the windows should have 
 the Roman arch, as the first positive step he would 
 take in effecting his wishes. As the building was 
 13* 
 
150 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 made of bricks, he was enabled to conceal his de 
 sign, until the moment arrived for placing the 
 frames : then, indeed, it became necessary to act. 
 He communicated his wishes to Hiram with great 
 caution ; and without in the least adverting to the 
 spiritual part of his project, he pressed the point a 
 little warmly, on the score of architectural beauty. 
 Hiram heard him patiently, and without contradic 
 tion ; but still Richard was unable to discover the 
 views of his coadjutor, on this interesting subject. 
 As the right to plan was duly delegated to Mr. 
 Jones, no direct objection was made in words, but 
 numberless unexpected difficulties arose in the 
 execution. At first, there was a scarcity in the 
 right kind of material necessary to form the frames ; 
 but this objection was instantly silenced, by Ri 
 chard running his pencil through two feet of their 
 length at one stroke. Then the expense was men 
 tioned; but Richard reminded Hiram that his 
 cousin paid, and that he was his treasurer. This 
 last intimation had great weight, and after a silent 
 and protracted, but fruitless opposition, the work 
 was suffered to proceed on the original plan. 
 
 The next difficulty occurred in the steeple, 
 which Richard had modelled after one of the small 
 er of those spires that adorn the great London Ca 
 thedral. The imitation was somewhat lame, it is 
 true, the proportions being but indifferently ob 
 served ; but, after much difficulty, Mr. Jones had 
 the satisfaction of seeing an object reared, that 
 bore, in its outlines, a prodigious resemblance to an 
 old-fashioned vinegar-cruet. There was less op 
 position to this model than to the windows, for 
 the settlers were fond of novelty, and their steeple 
 was without a precedent. 
 
 Here the labour had ceased for the season, and 
 the difficult question of the interior remained for 
 
THE PIONEERS. 151 
 
 further deliberation. Richard well knew, that 
 when he came to propose a reading-desk and a 
 chancel, he must unmask; for these were arrange 
 ments, known to no church in the country, but 
 his own. Presuming, however, on the advantages 
 he had already obtained, he boldly styled the build 
 ing St. Paul s, and Hiram prudently acquiesced in 
 this appellation, making, however, the slight addi 
 tion of calling it " New St. Paul s, 7 feeling less 
 aversion to a name taken from the English Cathe 
 dral, than from the saint. 
 
 The pedestrian, whom we have already men 
 tioned, as pausing to contemplate this edifice, was 
 no other than the gentleman so frequently named 
 as Mr., or Squire, Doolittle. He was of a tall, 
 gaunt formation, with sharp features, and a face 
 that expressed formal propriety, mingled with low 
 cunning. Richard approached him, followed by 
 Monsieur Le Quoi and the Major domo. 
 
 " Good evening, Squire," said Richard, bobbing 
 his head, but without moving his hands from his 
 pockets. 
 
 " Good evening, Squire," echoed Hiram, turning 
 his body, in order to turn his head also. 
 
 " A cold night, Mr. Doolittle, a cold night, sir." 
 
 " Coolish," said Hiram ; " a tedious spell on t." 
 
 " What, looking at our church, ha ! it looks well 
 by moonlight ; how the tin of the cupola glistens, 
 I warrant you, the dome of the other St. Paul s 
 never shines so in the smoke of London." 
 
 " It is a pretty meeting-house to look on," re 
 turned Hiram, " and I believe that Monshure Ler 
 Quow and Mr. Penguilliam will allow it." 
 
 "Sairtainlee!" exclaimed the complaisant French 
 man, " it ees ver fine." 
 
 " I thought the Monshure would say so," ob 
 served Hiram. " Them last molasses that we had 
 
152 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 was excellent good. It isn t likely that you have 
 any more of it on hand ?" 
 
 " Ah ! oui ; ees, sair," returned Monsieur Le 
 Quoi, with a slight shrug of his shoulder, and a tri 
 fling grimace, " dere is more. I feel verhappi dat 
 you love eet. I hope dat Madame Doleet is in 
 good eaith." 
 
 " Why, so as to be stirring," said Hiram. "The 
 Squire hasn t finished the plans for the inside of 
 the meeting house yet ?" 
 
 "No no no," returned Richard, speaking 
 quickly, but making a significant pause bet\veen 
 each negative " it requires reflection. There is 
 a great deal of room to fill up, and I am afraid we 
 shall not know how to dispose of it to advantage. 
 There will be a large vacant spot around the pul 
 pit, which I do not mean to place against the wall, 
 like a sentry-box stuck up on the side of a fort." 
 
 " It is ruleable to put the deacons box under 
 the pulpit," said Hiram ; and then, as if he had 
 ventured too much, he added, " but there s differ 
 ent fashions in different countries." 
 
 " That there is," cried Benjamin ; " now, in 
 running down the coast of Spain and Portingall, 
 you may see a nunnery stuck out on every head 
 land, with more steeples and outriggers, such as 
 dog-vanes and weather-cocks, than you ll find 
 aboard of a three-masted schooner. If-so-be that 
 a well built church is wanting, Old England, after 
 all, is the country to go to, after your models and 
 fashion pieces. As to Paul s, thof I ve never seen 
 it, being that it s a long way up town from Rad- 
 cliffe-highway and the docks, yet every body knows 
 that il s the grandest place in the world. Now, 
 I ve no opinion but this here church over there, is 
 as like one end of it, as a grampus is to a whale ; 
 and that s only a small difference in bulk. Moun- 
 
THE PIONEERS. 153 
 
 sheer Ler Quaw here, has been in foreign parts, 
 and thof that is not the same as having been at 
 home, yet he must have seen churches in France 
 too, and can form a small idee of what a church 
 should be : now, I ask the Mounsheer to his face, 
 if it is not a clever little thing, taking it by and 
 large ?" 
 
 " It ees ver apropos to saircumstonce," said the 
 Frenchman " ver judgement but it is in de ca- 
 tholique country dat dey build de vat you call 
 ah a ah-ha la grande cathedrale de big church. 
 St. Paul, Londre, is ver fine ; ver bootiful ; ver 
 grand vat you call beeg ; but, Monsieur Ben, 
 pardonnez moi, it is no vort so much as Notre 
 Dame" 
 
 " Ha ! Mounsheer, what is that you say ?" cried 
 Benjamin " St. Paul s church not worth so much 
 as a damn ! Mayhap you may be thinking too, that 
 the Royal Billy isn t as good a ship as the Billy de 
 Paris ; but she would have lick d two of her, any 
 day, and in all weathers." 
 
 As Benjamin had assumed a very threatening 
 kind of attitude, flourishing an arm, with a bunch 
 at the end of it, that was half as big as Monsieur 
 Le Quoi s head, Richard thought it time to inter 
 pose his authority. 
 
 " Hush, Benjamin, hush," he said ; " you both 
 misunderstand Monsieur Le Quoi, and forget your 
 self. But here comes Mr. Grant, and the service 
 will commence. Let us go in." 
 
 The Frenchman, who received Benjamin s reply 
 with a well-bred good humour, that would not ad 
 mit of any feeling but pity for the other s ignorance, 
 bowed in acquiescence, and followed his com 
 panion. 
 
 Hiram and the Major Domo brought up the rear, 
 the latter grumbling, as he entered the building 
 
154 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 " If-so-be that the King of France had so much 
 as a house to live in, that would lay along-side of 
 Paul s, one might put up with their jaw. It s mort 
 than flesh and blood can bear, to hear a Frenchman 
 run down an English church in this manner. Why,, 
 Squire Doolittle, I ve been at the whipping of two 
 of them in one day clean built, snug frigates, with 
 standing-royals, and them new-fashioned cannon 
 ades on their quarters such as, if they had only 
 Englishmen aboard of them, would have fout the 
 devil." 
 
 With this ominous word in his mouth, Benjamin 
 entered the church ! 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 And fools, who came to scoff, remain d to pray." 
 
 Goldsmith. 
 
 the united labours of Ri 
 chard and Benjamin, the " long-room" was but an 
 extremely plain and inartificial temple. Benches, 
 made in the coarsest manner, and entirely with a 
 view to usefulness, were arranged in rows, for the 
 reception of the congregation ; while a rough, un- 
 painted box, was placed against the wall, in the 
 centre of the length of the apartment, as an apolo 
 gy for a pulpit. Something like a reading-desk 
 was in front of this rostrum, and a small mahogany 
 table, from the mansion-house, covered with a 
 spotless damask cloth, stood a little on one side, 
 by the way of an altar. Branches of pines and 
 hemlocks were stuck in each of the fissures that 
 offered, in the unseasoned, and hastily completed 
 wood-work, of both the building and its furniture ; 
 while festoons and hieroglyphics met the eye, in 
 vast profusion, along the brown sides of the scratch- 
 coated walls. As the room was only lighted by 
 some ten or fifteen miserable candles, and the win 
 dows were without shutters, it would have been 
 but a dreary, cheerless place for the solemnities of 
 a Christmas-eve, had not the large fire, that was 
 
156 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 crackling at each end of the apartment, given an air 
 of cheerfulness to the scene, by throwing an oc 
 casional glare of light through the vistas of bushes 
 and faces. 
 
 The two sexes were separated by an area in the 
 centre of the room, immediately before the pulpit, 
 and a few benches lined this space, that were oc 
 cupied by the principal personages of the village 
 and its vicinity. This distinction was rather a 
 gratuitous concession, made by the poorer and less 
 polished part of the population, than a right claim 
 ed by the favoured few. One bench was occupied 
 by the party of Judge Temple, including his daugh 
 ter, and, with the exception of Dr. Todd, no one 
 else appeared willing to incur the imputation of 
 pride, by taking a seat in what was, literally, the 
 high place of the tabernacle. 
 
 "Richard filled a chair, that was placed behind 
 another table, in the capacity of clerk ; while Ben 
 jamin, after heaping sundry logs on the fires, posted 
 himself nigh by, in reserve for any movement that 
 might require his co-operation. 
 
 It would be greatly exceeding our limits to at 
 tempt a description of the congregation, for their 
 dresses were as various as there were individuals. 
 Some one article, of more than usual finery, and 
 perhaps the relic of other days, was to be seen 
 about most of the females, in connexion with the 
 coarse attire of the woods. This, wore a faded 
 silk, that had gone through at least three genera 
 tions, over coarse, woollen, black stockings ; that, 
 a shawl, whose dies were as numerous as those of 
 the rainbow, over an awkwardly fitting gown, of 
 rough, brown " woman s wear." In short, each 
 one exhibited some favourite article, and all ap 
 peared in their best, both men and women ; while 
 the ground -works in dress, in either sex, were the 
 
THE PIONEERS. 157 
 
 coattse fabrics manufactured within their own dwell 
 ings. One man appeared in the dress of a volun 
 teer company of artillery, of which he had been a 
 member, in the " down-countries," precisely for 
 no other reason, than because it was the best suit 
 he had. Several, particularly of the younger 
 men, displayed pantaloons of blue, edged with red 
 cloth down the seams, part of the equipments of 
 the " Templeton Light Infantry," from little va 
 nity to be seen in " boughten clothes." There 
 was also one man in a " rifle frock," with its 
 fringes and folds of spotless white, striking a chill 
 to the heart with the idea of its coolness ; although 
 the thick coat of brown "home made," that was 
 concealed beneath, preserved to the wearer a pro 
 per degree of warmth. 
 
 There was a marked uniformity of expression 
 in countenance, especially in that half of the con 
 gregation, who did not enjoy the advantages of the 
 polish of the village. A sallow skin, that indicated 
 nothing but exposure, was common to all, as was 
 an air of great decency and attention, mingled, 
 generally, with an expression of shrewdness, and, 
 in the present instance, of active curiosity. Now 
 and then a face and dress were to be seen, among 
 the congregation, that differed entirely from this 
 description. If pock-marked, and florid, with gai 
 tered legs, and a coat that snugly fitted the person 
 of the wearer, it was surely an English emigrant, 
 who had bent his steps to this retired quarter of 
 the globe. If hard-featured, and without colour, 
 with high cheek bones, it was a native of Scot 
 land, in similar circumstances. The short, black- 
 eyed man, with a cast of the swarthy Spaniard in 
 his face, who rose repeatedly, to make room for 
 the belles of the village, as they entered, was a 
 son of Erin, who had lately left off his pack, and 
 14 
 
158 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 become a stationary trader in Templeton. In short, 
 half the nations in the north of Europe had their 
 representatives in this assembly, though all had 
 closely assimilated themselves to the Americans, 
 in dress and appearance, except the Englishman. 
 He, indeed, not only adhered to his native cus 
 toms, in attire and living, but usually drove his 
 plough, among the stumps, in the same manner as 
 he had before done, on the plains of Norfolk, until 
 dear-bought experience taught him the useful les 
 son, that a sagacious people knew what was suited 
 to their circumstances, better than a casual ob 
 server; or a sojourner, who was, perhaps, too 
 much prejudiced to compare, and, peradventure, 
 too conceited to learn. 
 
 Elizabeth soon discovered that she divided the 
 attention of the congregation, equally with Mr. 
 Grant. Timidity, therefore, confined her obser 
 vation of the appearances which we have describ 
 ed, to stolen glances ; but, as the stamping of feet 
 was now becoming less frequent, and even the 
 coughing, and other little preliminaries of a con 
 gregation settling themselves down into reverential 
 attention, were ceasing, she felt emboldened to 
 look around her. Gradually all noises diminished, 
 until the suppressed cough denoted that it was 
 necessary to avoid singularity, and the most pro 
 found stillness pervaded the apartment. The snap 
 ping of the fires, as they threw a powerful heat 
 into the room, was alone heard, and each face, and 
 every eye, were turned in expectation on the 
 divine. 
 
 At this moment, a heavy stamping of feet was 
 heard in the passage below, as if a new comer was 
 releasing his limbs from the snow, that was neces 
 sarily clinging to the legs of a pedestrian. It was 
 succeeded by no audible tread ; but directly Mo- 
 
THE PIONEEHS. 159 
 
 began, followed by the Leather-stocking and the 
 young hunter, made his appearance. Their foot 
 steps would not have been heard, as they trod the 
 apartment in their moccasins, but for the silence 
 which prevailed. 
 
 The Indian moved with great gravity across the 
 floor, andj observing a vacant seat next to the 
 Judge, he took it, in a manner that manifested his 
 sense of his own dignity. Here, drawing his 
 blanket closely around him, so as partly to con 
 ceal his countenance, he remained during the ser 
 vice, immoveable, but deeply attentive. Natty 
 passed the place, that was so freely taken by his 
 red companion, and seated himself on one end of 
 a log that was lying near the fire, w r here he con 
 tinued, with his rifle standing between his legs, ab 
 sorbed in reflections, seemingly, of no very pleasing 
 nature. The youth found a seat among the con 
 gregation, and another dead silence prevailed. 
 
 Mr. Grant now arose, and commenced his ser 
 vice, with the sublime declaration of the Hebrew 
 prophet " The Lord is in his holy temple ; let all 
 the earth keep silence before him." The example 
 of Mr. Jones was unnecessary, to teach the congre 
 gation to rise : the solemnity of the manner of the 
 divine effected this as by magic. After a short 
 pause, Mr. Grant proceeded with the solemn and 
 winning exhortation of his service. Nothing was 
 heard but the deep, though affectionate, tones of 
 the reader, as he slowly went through this exordi 
 um; until, something unfortunately striking the 
 mind of Richard as incomplete, he left his place, 
 and walked on tip-toe from the room. 
 
 When the clergyman bent his knees in prayer 
 and confession, the congregatior so far imitated his 
 example, as to resume their seats ; whence no suc 
 ceeding effort of the divine, during the evening, was 
 
160 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 able to remove them in a body. Some rose, at 
 times, but by far the larger part continued unbend 
 ing ; observant, it is true, but it was the kind of 
 observation that regarded the ceremony as a spec 
 tacle, rather than a worship in which all were to 
 participate. Thus deserted by his clerk, Mr. Grant 
 continued to read ; but no response was audible. 
 The short and solemn pause, that succeeded each 
 petition, was made ; still no voice repeated the 
 eloquent language of the prayer. 
 
 The lips of Elizabeth moved, but they moved 
 in vain ; and, accustomed, as she was, to the ser 
 vice in the churches of the metropolis, she was 
 beginning to feel the awkwardness of the circum 
 stance most painfully, when a soft, low, female 
 voice repeated after the priest, " We have left un 
 done those things which we ought to have done." 
 Startled, at finding one of her own sex in that 
 place, who could rise superior to their natural ti 
 midity, Miss Temple turned her eyes in the direc 
 tion of the humble penitent. She observed a 
 young female, on her knees, but a short distance 
 from her, with her meek face humbly bent over 
 her book. The appearance of this stranger, for 
 such she was, entirely, to Elizabeth, was light and 
 fragile. Her dress, without being either rich or 
 fashionable, was neat and becoming ; and hei 
 countenance, though pale, and slightly agitated, 
 excited deep interest, by its sweet, and perhaps 
 melancholy expression. A second and third re 
 sponse were made by this juvenile assistant, when 
 the rich, manly sounds of a youthful, male voice, 
 proceeded from the opposite part of the room. 
 Miss Temple knew the tones of the young hunter 
 instantly, and, struggling to overcome her own 
 diffidence, she added her low voice to the number. 
 
 All this time, Benjamin stood thumbing the 
 
THE PIONEERS. 161 
 
 leaves of a prayer-book with great industry, but 
 some unexpected difficulties prevented his finding 
 the place. Before the divine reached the close of 
 the confession, however, Richard re-appeared at 
 the door, and, as he moved lightly across the room, 
 he took up the response, in a voice that betrayed 
 no other concern than that of not being heard. In 
 his hand he carried a small open box, with the 
 figures of " 8 by 10" written in black paint, on one 
 of its sides ; which having placed in the pulpit, 
 apparently as a footstool for the divine, he return 
 ed to his station in time to say, most sonorously, 
 u amen." The eyes of the congregation, very 
 naturally, were turned to the windows, as Mr. 
 Jones entered with this singular load, and then, as 
 if accustomed to his " general agency," were again 
 bent on the priest, in close and curious attention. 
 The long experience of Mr. Grant had admira 
 bly qualified him to perform with success his pre 
 sent duty. He well understood the character of 
 his listeners, who were mostly a primitive people 
 in their habits ; and who, being a good deal ad 
 dicted to subtleties and nice distinctions in their 
 religious opinions, viewed the introduction into 
 their spiritual worship of any such temporal assist 
 ance as form, not only with jealousy, but frequent 
 ly with disgust. He had acquired much of his 
 knowledge from studying the great book of hu 
 man nature, as it lay open in the world ; and, 
 knowing how dangerous it was to contend with ig 
 norance, uniformly endeavoured to avoid dictating, 
 where his better reason taught him it was the 
 most prudent to attempt to lead. His orthodoxy 
 had no dependence on his cassock ; he could pray, 
 with fervour and with faith, if circumstances re 
 quired it, without the assistance of his clerk ; and 
 he had even been known to preach a most evan- 
 14 * 
 
162 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 gelical sermon, in the winning mannei of native 
 eloquence, without the aid of a cambric handker 
 chief. 
 
 In the present instance he yielded, in many 
 places, to the prejudices of his congregation ; and 
 when he had ended, there was not one of his new 
 hearers, who did not think the ceremonies less 
 papal and offensive, and more conformant to his 
 or her own notions of devout worship, than they 
 had been led to expect from a service of forms. 
 Truly, Richard found in the divine, during the 
 evening, a most powerful co-operator in his reli 
 gious schemes. In preaching, Mr. Grant endea 
 voured to steer a middle course, between the 
 mystical doctrines of those sublimated creeds, 
 which daily involve their professors in the most 
 absurd contradictions, and those fluent rules for 
 moral government, which would reduce the Sa 
 viour to a level with the teacher of a school of 
 ethics. Doctrine it was necessary for him to 
 preach, for nothing less would have satisfied the 
 disputatious people who were his listeners, and 
 who would have interpreted silence on his part, 
 into a tacit acknowledgment of either the super 
 ficial nature of his creed, or his own inability to 
 defend it. We have already said that, among the 
 endless variety of their religious instructers, the 
 settlers were accustomed to hear every denomi 
 nation urge its own distinctive precepts ; and to 
 have found one indifferent to this interesting sub 
 ject, would have been destructive to his influence. 
 But Mr. Grant so happily blended the universally 
 received opinions of the Christian faith, with the 
 dogmas of his own church, that, although none 
 were entirely exempt from the influence of his 
 reasons, very few took any alarm at the innova 
 tion. 
 
THE PIONEERS. 163 
 
 "When we consider the great diversity of the 
 human character, influenced as it is by education, 
 by opportunity, and by the physical and moral con 
 ditions of the creature, my dear hearers," he ear 
 nestly concluded, " it can excite no surprise, 
 that creeds, so very different in their tendencies, 
 should grow out of a religion, revealed, it is true, 
 but whose revelations are obscured by the lapse 
 of ages, and whose doctrines were, after the fa 
 shion of the countries in which they were first pro 
 mulgated, frequently delivered in parables, and in 
 a language abounding in metaphors, and loaded 
 with figures. On points where the learned Lave, 
 in purity of heart, been compelled to differ, the 
 unlettered will necessarily be at variance. But, 
 happily for us, my brethren, the fountain of divine 
 love flows from a source too pure to admit of pol 
 lution in its course ; it extends, to those who drink 
 of its vivifying waters, the peace of the righteous, 
 and life everlasting ; it endures through all time, 
 and it pervades creation. If there be mystery in 
 its workings, it is the mystery of a Divinity. With 
 a clear knowledge of the nature, the might, and 
 majesty of God, there might be conviction, but 
 there could be no faith. If we are required to be 
 lieve in doctrines that seem not in conformity with 
 the deductions of human wisdom, let us never for 
 get, that such is the mandate of a wisdom that is 
 infinite. It is sufficient for us, that enough is de 
 veloped to point our path aright, and to direct our 
 wandering steps to that portal, which shall open 
 on the light of an eternal day. Then, indeed, it 
 may be humbly hoped, that the film, which has 
 been spread by the subtleties of earthly arguments, 
 will be dissipated by the spiritual light of heaven ; 
 and that our hour of probation, by the aid of divine 
 grace, being once passed in triumph, will be fol- 
 
164 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 lowed by an eternity of intelligence, and endless 
 ages of fruition. All that is now obscure shall be 
 come plain to our expanded faculties ; and what to 
 our present senses may seem irreconcilable to 
 our limited notions of mercy, of justice, and of love, 
 shall stand, irradiated by the light of truth, con 
 fessedly the suggestions of Omniscience, and the 
 acts of an All-powerful Benevolence. 
 
 " What a lesson of humility, my brethren, might 
 not each of us obtain, from a review of his infant 
 hours, and the recollection of his juvenile passions ! 
 How differently do the same acts of parental ri 
 gour appear, in the eyes of the suffering child, and 
 of the chastened man ! When the sophist would 
 supplant, with the wild theories of his worldly wis 
 dom, the positive mandates of inspiration, let him 
 remember the expansion of his own feeble intel 
 lects, and pause let him feel the wisdom of God, 
 in what is partially concealed, as well as in that 
 which is revealed ; in short, let him substitute hu 
 mility for pride of reason let him have faith, and 
 live ! 
 
 " The consideration of this subject is full of con 
 solation, my hearers, and does not fail to bring 
 with it lessons of humility and of profit, that, duly 
 improved, would both chasten the heart, and 
 strengthen the feeble-minded man in his course. 
 It is a blessed consolation, to be able to lay the 
 misdoubtings of our arrogant nature at the threshold 
 of the dwelling-place of the Deity, from whence 
 they shall be swept away, at the great opening of 
 the portal, like the mists of the morning before the 
 rising sun. It teaches us a lesson of humility, by 
 impressing us with the imperfection of human 
 powers, and by warning us of the many weak 
 points, where we are open to the attacks of the 
 great enemy of our race ; it proves to us, that we 
 
THE PIONEERS. 165 
 
 are in danger of being weak, when our vanity 
 would fain sooth us into the belief that we are 
 most strong ; it forcibly points out to us the vain 
 glory of intellect, and shows us the vast difference 
 between a saving faith, and the corollaries of a phi 
 losophical theology ; and it teaches us to reduce 
 our self-examination to the test of good works. 
 By good works, must be understood the fruits of 
 repentance, the chiefest of which is charity. N^t 
 that charity only, which causes us to help the 
 needy and comfort the suffering, but that feeling 
 of universal philanthropy, which, by teaching us to 
 love, causes us to judge with lenity, all men; strik 
 ing at the root of self-righteousness, and warning 
 us to be sparing of our condemnation of others, 
 while our own salvation is not yet secure. 
 
 " The lesson of expediency, my brethren, which 
 I would gather from the consideration of this sub 
 ject, is most strongly inculcated by our humility. 
 On the leading and essential points of our faith, 
 there is but little difference, among those classes of 
 Christians who acknowledge the attributes of the 
 Saviour, and depend on his mediation. But here 
 sies have polluted every church, and schisms are 
 the fruits of disputation. In order to arrest these 
 dangers, and to ensure the union of his followers, it 
 would seem that Christ had established his visible 
 church, and delegated the ministry. Wise and 
 holy men, the fathers of our religion, have expend 
 ed their labours in clearing what was revealed from 
 the obscurities of language, and the results of their 
 experience and researches have been embodied in 
 the form of evangelical discipline. That this dis 
 cipline must be salutary, is evident from the view 
 of the weakness of human nature that we have al 
 ready taken : and that it may be profitable to us, 
 and all who listen to its precepts and its liturgy, 
 
166 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 raay God, in his infinite wisdom, grant. Acd now 
 to," &c. 
 
 With this ingenious reference to his own forms 
 and ministry, Mr. Grant concluded his discourse. 
 The most profound attention had been paid to the 
 sermon during the whole of its delivery, although 
 the prayers had not been received with such a per 
 fect demonstration of respect. This was by no 
 means an intended slight of that liturgy, to which 
 the divine had alluded, but was the habit of a peo 
 ple, who owed their very existence, as a distinct 
 nation, to the doctrinal character of their ancestors. 
 Sundry looks of private dissatisfaction were ex 
 changed between Hiram and one or two of the 
 leading members of the conference, but the feeling 
 went no farther at that time ; and the congregation, 
 after receiving the blessing of Mr. Grant, dispersed 
 in silence, <md with great decorum. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Your creeds and dogmas of a learned chorch 
 May build a fabric, fair with moral beauty; 
 But it would seem, that the strong hand of God 
 Can, only, rase the devil from the heart. 
 
 Duo 
 
 WHILE the congregation was separating, Mr, 
 Grant approached the place where Elizabeth and 
 her father were seated, leading the youthful female, 
 whom we have mentioned in the preceding chap 
 ter, and presented her as his daughter. Her re 
 ception was as cordial and frank as the manners of 
 the country, and the value of good society, could 
 render it ; the two young women feeling, instantly, 
 that they were necessary to the comfort of each 
 other. The Judge, to whom the clergyman s 
 daughter was also a stranger, was pleased to find 
 one, who, from habits, sex, and years, could proba 
 bly contribute largely to the pleasures of his own 
 child, during her first privations, on her removal 
 from the associations of a city to the solitude of 
 Templeton ; while Elizabeth, who had been forcibly 
 struck with the sweetness and devotion of the 
 youthful suppliant, removed the slight embarrass 
 ment of the timid stranger, by the ease and finish 
 of her own manners. They were at once acquaint 
 ed, and, during the ten minutes that the " acade 
 my" was clearing, engagements were made be- 
 
168 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 tween the young people, not only for their pursuits 
 during the succeeding day, after the service, but 
 they would probably have embraced in their ar 
 rangements half of the winter, had not the divine 
 interrupted them, by saying 
 
 " Gently, gently, my dear Miss Temple, or you 
 will make my girl too dissipated. You forget that 
 she is my housekeeper, and that my domestic af 
 fairs must remain unattended to, should Louisa ac 
 cept of half the kind offers that you are so good as 
 to make her." 
 
 " And \vhy should they not be neglected entire 
 ly, sir?" interrupted Elizabeth. " There are but 
 two of you ; and certain I am that my father s 
 house will not only contain you both, but will open 
 its doors spontaneously, to receive such guests. 
 Society is a good, not to be rejected on account of 
 cold forms, in this wilderness, sir ; and I have of 
 ten heard my father say, that hospitality is not a 
 virtue in a new country, the favour being conferred 
 on the host by the guest." 
 
 " The manner in which Judge Temple exercises 
 its rites would confirm this opinion," said the di 
 vine ; " but we must not trespass too freely. 
 Doubt not that you will see us often, my child 
 particularly, during the frequent visits that I shall 
 be compelled to make to the distant parts of the 
 country. But to obtain an influence with such a 
 people," he continued, glancing his eyes towards 
 the few, who were still lingering, as curious ob 
 servers of the interview, " a clergyman must not 
 awaken envy or distrust, by dwelling under so 
 splendid a roof as that of Judge Temple." 
 
 u You like the roof, then, Mr. Grant," cried Ri 
 chard, who had been directing the extinguishment 
 of the fires, and other little necessary duties, and 
 who now approached, so as to hear the close of the 
 
THE PIONEERS. 169 
 
 divine s speech " I am glad to find one man of 
 taste at last. Here s duke, now, pretends to call 
 it by every abusive name he can invent ; but 
 though duke is a very tolerable Judge, sir, he is a 
 very poor carpenter, let me tell him. Well, sir, 
 well, I think we may say, without boasting, that 
 the service was as well performed this evening as 
 you often see ; I think, quite as well as I ever 
 knew it to be done in old Trinity that is, if we 
 except the organ. But there is the schoolmaster 
 leads a psalm with a very good air. I used to lead 
 myself, but latterly I have sung nothing but bass. 
 There is a good deal of science to be shown in the 
 bass, and it affords a fine opportunity to show off a 
 full, deep voice. Benjamin, too, sings a good bass, 
 though he is often out in the words. Did you ever 
 hear Benjamin sing the c Bay of Biscay, O ? " 
 
 " I believe he gave us part of it this evening," 
 said Marmaduke, laughing. u There was, now 
 and then, a fearful quaver in his voice, and it seems 
 that Mr. Penguillian is like most others who do one 
 thing particularly well : he knows nothing else. He 
 has, certainly, a wonderful partiality to one tune, 
 and he has a prodigious self-confidence in that one, 
 for he delivers himself like a north-wester sweep 
 ing across the lake. But come, gentlemen, our 
 way is clear, and the sleigh waits. Good evening, 
 Mr. Grant. Good night, young lady remember 
 that you dine beneath the Corinthian roof to-mor 
 row, with Elizabeth." 
 
 The parties separated, Richard holding a close 
 dissertation with Mr. Le Quoi, as they descended 
 the stairs, on the subject of psalmody, which he 
 closed by a violent eulogium on the air of the 
 " Bay of Biscay, O," as particularly connected with 
 his friend Benjamin s execution. 
 
 During the preceding dialogue, Mohegan ha< 
 15 
 
170 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 retained his seat, with his head shrouded in his 
 blanket, as seemingly inattentive to surrounding 
 objects, as the departing congregation was, itself, 
 to the presence of the aged chief. Natty, also, 
 continued on the log, where he had first placed 
 himself, with his head resting on one of his hands, 
 while the other held the riile, which was thrown 
 carelessly across his lap. His countenance ex 
 pressed extraordinary uneasiness, and the occa 
 sional unquiet glances, that he had thrown around 
 him during the service, plainly indicated some un 
 usual causes for unhappiness. His continuing 
 seated was, however, from respect to the Indian 
 chief, to whom he paid the utmost deference, on all 
 occasions, although it was mingled w 7 ith the rough 
 manner of a hunter. 
 
 The young companion of these two ancient in 
 habitants of the forest remained also, standing be 
 fore the extinguished brands, probably from an un 
 willingness to depart without his comrades. The 
 room was now deserted by all but this group, the 
 divine, and his daughter. As the party from the 
 Mansion-house disappeared, John arose, and drop 
 ping the blanket from his head, he shook back the 
 mass of black hair from his face, and approaching 
 Mr. Grant, he extended his hand, and said so 
 lemnly 
 
 " Father, I thank you. The words that have 
 oeen said, since the rising moon, have gone up 
 ward, and the Great Spirit is glad. What you have 
 told your children, they will remember, and be 
 good." He paused a moment, and then, elevating 
 himself to all the grandeur of an Indian chief, he 
 added " If Chingaehgook lives to travel towards 
 the setting sun, after his tribe, and the Great Spirit 
 carries him over the lakes and mountains, with 
 the breath in his body, he will tell his people the 
 
THE PIONEERS. 171 
 
 good talk he has heard ; and they will believe him ; 
 for who can say that Mohegan has ever lied ?" 
 
 " Let him place his dependence on the goodness 
 of Divine mercy," said Mr. Grant, to whom the 
 proud consciousness of the Indian sounded a little 
 heterodox, " and it never will desert him. When 
 the heart is filled with love to God, there is no 
 room left for sin. But, young man, to you I owe 
 not only an obligation, in common with those you 
 saved this evening, on the mountain, but my thanks, 
 for your respectful and pious manner, in assisting 
 in the service, at a most embarrassing moment. I 
 should be happy to see you sometimes, at my 
 dwelling, when, perhaps, my conversation may 
 strengthen you in the path which you appear to 
 have chosen. It is so unusual to find one of your 
 age and appearance, in these woods, at all acquaint 
 ed with our holy liturgy, that it lessens at once the 
 distance between us, and I feel that we are no 
 longer strangers. You seem quite at home in the 
 service : I did not perceive that you had even a 
 book, although good Mr. Jones had laid several in 
 different parts of the room." 
 
 " It would be strange, if I were ignorant of the 
 service of our church, sir," returned the youth, 
 modestly, " for I was baptized in its communion, 
 and I have never yet attended public worship else 
 where. For me to use the forms of any other de 
 nomination, would be as singular as our own have 
 proved to the people here this evening." 
 
 c You give me great pleasure to hear you, my 
 dear sir," cried the divine, seizing the other by the 
 hand, and shaking it cordially. " You will go home 
 with me now indeed you must my child has yet 
 to thank you for saving my life. I will listen to 
 no apologies. This worthy Indian, and your friend 
 there, will accompany us. Bless me ! to think that 
 
172 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 lie has arrived at manhood, in this country, with 
 out entering a dissenting meeting-house !" 
 
 " No, no," interrupted the Leather-stocking, 
 " I must away to the wigwam : there s work there, 
 that mus n t be forgotten, for all your churchings 
 and merry-makings. Let the lad go with you in 
 welcome ; he is used to keeping company with 
 ministers, and talking of such matters ; so is old 
 John, who was christianized by the Moravians, 
 about the time of the old war. But I am a plain, 
 unlarned man, that has sarved the king and his 
 country, in his day, ag in the French and savages, 
 but never so much as looked into a book, or larnt 
 a letter of scholarship, in my born days. I ve ne 
 ver seen the use of sitch in-door kind of work, 
 though I have lived to be partly bald, and, in my 
 time, have killed two hundred beaver in a season, 
 and that without counting the other game. If you 
 mistrust what I am telling you, you can ask Chin- 
 gachgook there, for I did it in the heart of the De 
 laware country, and the old man is knowing to the 
 truth of every word I say." 
 
 " I doubt not, my friend, that you have been 
 both a valiant soldier and sldlful hunter, in your 
 day," said the divine ; " but more is wanting, to 
 prepare you for that end which approaches. You 
 may have heard the maxim, that c young men may 
 die, but that old men mustS " 
 
 " I m sure I never was so great a fool as to ex 
 pect to live for ever," said Natty, giving one of his 
 silent laughs : " no man need do that, who trails 
 the savages through the woods, as I have done, and 
 lives, for the hot months, on the lake streams. I ve 
 a strong constitution, I must say that for myself, as 
 is plain to be seen ; for I ve drunk the Onondaga 
 water a hundred times, while I ve been watching 
 the deer-licks, when the fever-an-agy seeds was to 
 
THE PIONEERS. 173 
 
 DC seen in it, as plain and as plenty as you can see 
 the rattle-snakes on old Crumhorn. But then, I 
 never expected to hold out for ever ; though there s 
 them living, who have seen the Garman Flats a 
 wilderness"; ay ! and them that s larned, and ac 
 quainted with religion too ; though you might look 
 a week now, and not find even the stump of a pine 
 on them ; and that s a wood that lasts in the ground 
 the better part of a hundred years." 
 
 " This is but time, my good friend," returned 
 Mr. Grant, who began to take an interest in the 
 welfare of his new acquaintance, " but it is for 
 eternity that I would have you prepare. It is in 
 cumbent on you to attend places of public worship, 
 as I am pleased to see that you have done this 
 evening. Would it not be heedless in you to start 
 on a day s toil of hard hunting, and leave your 
 ramrod and flint behind you ?" 
 
 " It must be a young hand in the woods," in 
 terrupted Natty, with another laugh, " that didn t 
 know how to dress a rod out of an ash sapling, or 
 find a fire-stone in the mountains. No, no, I never 
 expected to live for ever ; but I see, times be al 
 tering in these mountains from what they was 
 thirty years ago, or, for that matter, ten years. But 
 might makes right, and the law is stronger than an 
 old man, whether he is one .that has much laming, 
 or only one like me, that is better now at standing 
 at the passes than in following the hounds, as I 
 once used to could. Heigh-ho ! I never know d 
 preaching come into a settlement, but it made game 
 scearce, and raised the price of gun-powder ; and 
 that s a thing that s not as easily made as a ram 
 rod, or an Indian flint." 
 
 The divine, perceiving that he had given his op 
 ponent an argument, by his own unfortunate se 
 lection of a comparison, very prudently relinquished 
 15* 
 
174 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 the controversy, for the present ; although he was 
 fully determined to resume it at a more happy mo 
 ment. Repeating his request to the young hunter, 
 with great earnestness, the youth and Indian con 
 sented to accompany him and his daughter to the 
 dwelling, that the care of Mr. Jones had provided 
 for their temporary residence. Leather-stocking 
 persevered in his intention of returning to the hut. 
 and at the door of the building they separated. 
 
 After following the course of one of the streets 
 of the village for a short distance, Mr. Grant, who 
 led the way, turned into a field, through a pair of 
 open bars, and entered a foot-path, of but sufficient 
 width to admit of only one person to walk in it, at 
 a time. The moon had gained a height that ena 
 bled her to throw her rays nearly perpendicularly 
 on the valley ; and the distinct shadows of the 
 party flitted along on the banks of the silver snow, 
 like the presence of aerial figures, gliding to their 
 appointed place of meeting. The night still con 
 tinued intensely cold, although not a breath of wind 
 was to be felt. The path was beaten so hard, that 
 the gentle female, who made one of the party, 
 moved with ease along its windings ; though the 
 frost emitted a low creaking, at the impression of 
 even her light footsteps. 
 
 The clergyman in his dark dress of broad-cloth, 
 with his mild, benevolent countenance occasionally 
 turned towards his companions, expressing that 
 look of subdued care, that was its characteristic? 
 presented the first object of this singularly consti 
 tuted group. Next to him moved the Indian, with 
 his hair falling about his face, his head uncovered, 
 and the rest of his form concealed beneath his 
 blanket. As his swarthy visage, with its muscles 
 fixed in rigid composure, was seen under the light 
 of the moon which struck his face obliquely, he 
 
THE PIONEERS. 175 
 
 seemed a picture of resigned old age, on whom the 
 storms of winter had beaten in vain, for the greater 
 part of a century ; but when in turning his head, 
 the rays fell directly on his dark, fiery eyes, they 
 told a tale of passions unrestrained, and of thoughts 
 free as the air he breathed. The slight person of 
 Miss Grant, which followed next, and which w r as 
 but too thinly clad for the severity of the season, 
 formed a marked contrast to the wild attire, and 
 uneasy glances of the Delaware chief; and more 
 than once, during their walk, the young hunter, 
 himself no insignificant figure in the group, was led 
 to consider the difference in the human form, as 
 the face of Mohegan, and the gentle countenance 
 of Miss Grant, with eyes that rivalled the soft hue 
 of the sky in colour, met his view, at the instant 
 that each turned, to throw a glance at the splendid 
 orb, that lighted their path. Their way, which 
 led through fields, that lay at some distance in the 
 rear of the houses, was cheered by a conversation, 
 that flagged or became animated with the subject. 
 The first to speak was the divine. 
 
 " Really," he said, " it is so singular a circum 
 stance to meet with one of your age, that has not 
 been induced by an idle curiosity to visit any other 
 church than the one in which he has been educat 
 ed, that I feel a strong curiosity to know the his 
 tory of a life so fortunately regulated. Your edu 
 cation must have been an excellent one ; as indeed 
 is evident from your manners and language. Of 
 which of the states are you a native, Mr. Edwards ? 
 for such, I believe, was the name that you gave to 
 Judge Temple." 
 
 " Of this" 
 
 " Of this ! I was at a loss to conjecture, from 
 your dialect, which does not partake, particularly, 
 of the peculiarities of any country with which I 
 
176 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 am acquainted. You have, then, resided much in 
 the cities, for no other part of this country is so for 
 tunate as to possess the constant enjoyment of our 
 excellent liturgy." 
 
 The young hunter smiled, as he listened to the 
 divine while he so clearly betrayed from what part 
 of the country he had come himself ; but for rea 
 sons, probably, connected with his present situa 
 tion, he made no answer. 
 
 "lam delighted to meet with you, my young 
 friend, for I think an ingenuous mind, such as I 
 doubt not yours must be, will exhibit all the ad 
 vantages of a settled doctrine and devout liturgy. 
 You perceive how I was compelled to bend to the 
 humours of my hearers this evening. Good Mr. 
 Jones wished me to read the communion, and, in 
 fact, all the morning service ; but, happily, the ca 
 nons do not require this in an evening. It would 
 have wearied a new congregation ; but to-morrow 
 I purpose administering the sacrament. Do you 
 -commune, my young friend ?" 
 
 " I believe not, sir," returned the youth, with a 
 little embarrassment, that was not at all diminish 
 ed by Miss Grant s pausing involuntarily, and turn 
 ing her eyes on him in evident surprise " I fear 
 that I am not qualified ; I have never yet approach 
 ed the altar ; neither would I wish to do it, while 
 I find so much of the world clinging to my heart, 
 as I now experience." 
 
 " Each must judge for himself," said Mr. Grant ; 
 " though I should think that a youth who had ne 
 ver been blown about by the wind of false doc 
 trines, and who has enjoyed the advantages of our 
 liturgy for so many years in its purity, might safely 
 come. Yet, sir, it is a solemn festival, which none 
 should celebrate, until there is reason to hope it is 
 not mockery. I observed this evening, in your 
 
THE PIONEERS. 177 
 
 manner to Judge Temple, a resentment that bor 
 dered on one of the worst of human passions. We 
 will cross this brook on the ice : it must bear us 
 all, I think, in safety. Be careful not to slip, my 
 child." While speaking, he descended a little bank 
 by the path, and crossed one of the small streams 
 that poured their waters into the lake ; and turn 
 ing to see his daughter pass, observed that the 
 youth had advanced, and was kindly directing her 
 footsteps. When all were safely over, he moved 
 up the opposite bank, and continued his discourse. 
 " It was wrong, my dear sir , very wrong, to suf 
 fer such feelings to rise, under any circumstances, 
 and especially in the present, where the evil was 
 not intended." 
 
 " There is good in the talk of my father," said 
 Mohegan, stopping short, and causing those who 
 were behind him to pause also ; " it is the talk of 
 Miquon. The white man may do as his fathers 
 have told him; but the Young Eagle has the 
 blood of a Delaware chief in his veins : it is red, 
 and the stain it makes can only be washed out with 
 the blood of a Mingo."* 
 
 Mr. Grant was surprised by the interruption of 
 the Indian, and, stopping, faced the speaker. His 
 mild features were confronted to the fierce and de 
 termined looks of the chief, and expressed all the 
 horror that he felt at hearing such sentiments from 
 one who professed the religion of his Saviour. 
 Raising his hands to a level with his head, he ex 
 claimed 
 
 " John, John ! is this the religion that you have 
 learned from the Moravians ? But no I will not 
 be so uncharitable as to suppose it. They are a 
 pious, a gentle* and a mild people, and could nevei 
 
 * His cnemyt 
 
178 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 tolerate these passions. Listen to the language of 
 the Redeemer c But I say unto you, love your 
 enemies ; bless them that curse you ; do good to 
 them that hate you ; and pray for them that de- 
 spitefully use you and persecute you. This is the 
 command of God, John, and without striving to 
 cultivate such feelings, no man can see him." 
 
 The Indian heard the exclamation of the divine 
 with attention ; the unusual fire of his eye gradual 
 ly softened, and his muscles relaxed into their or 
 dinary composure ; but, slightly shaking his head, 
 he motioned with dignity for Mr. Grant to resume 
 his walk, and followed himself again in silence. 
 The agitation of the divine caused him to move 
 with unusual rapidity along the deep path, and the 
 Indian, without any apparent exertion, kept an 
 equal pace ; but the young hunter observed the 
 female to linger in her steps, until a trifling dis 
 tance intervened between the two former and the 
 latter. Struck by the circumstance, and not perceiv 
 ing any new impediment to retard her footsteps, 
 the youth made a tender of his assistance, by say 
 ing 
 
 "You are fatigued, Miss Grant ; the snow yields 
 to the foot, and you are unequal to the strides of 
 us men. Step on the crust, I entreat you, and take 
 the help of my arm. Yonder light is, I believe, 
 the house of your father ; but it seems yet at some 
 distance." 
 
 " I am quite equal to the walk," returned a low, 
 tremulous voice ; " but I am startled by the man 
 ner of that Indian chief. Oh ! his eye was horrid, 
 as he turned to the moon, in speaking to my father. 
 But I forget, sir ; he is your friend, and by his 
 language may be your relative ; and yet of you I 
 do not feel afraid." 
 
 The young man stepped on the bank of snow 
 
THE PIONEERS, 179 
 
 which firmly sustained his weight, and by a gentle 
 effort induced his companion to follow him. Draw 
 ing her arm through his own, he lifted his cap from 
 his head allowing his dark locks to flow in rich 
 curls over his open brow, and walked by her side, 
 with an air of conscious pride, as if inviting an ex 
 amination of his inmost thoughts. Louisa took 
 but a furtive glance at his person, and moved qui 
 etly along, at a rate that was greatly quickened 
 by the aid of his arm. 
 
 " You are but little acquainted with this pecu 
 liar people, Miss Grant," he said, " or you woul j 
 know that revenge is a virtue with an Indian. 
 They are taught, from infancy upward, to believe 
 it a duty, never to allow an injury to pass unio- 
 sisted ; and nothing, but the stronger claims of 
 hospitality, can guard one against their resent 
 ments, where they have power to act their will." 
 
 " Surely, sir," said Miss Grant, involuntarily 
 withdrawing her arm from his, " you have not been 
 educated with such unholy sentiments." 
 
 " It might be a sufficient answer to your excel 
 lent father, to say, that I was educated in the 
 church," he returned ; " but to you I will add, 
 that I have been taught deep and practical lessons 
 of forgiveness. I believe that, on this subject, I 
 have but little cause to reproach myself; but it 
 shall be my endeavour that there yet be less." 
 
 While speaking, he stopped, and stood with his 
 arm again proffered to her assistance. As he end 
 ed, she quietly accepted his offer, and they resum 
 ed their walk. 
 
 Mr. Grant and Mohegan had reached the door 
 of the former s residence, and stood waiting near 
 its threshold for the arrival of their younger com 
 panions. The former was earnestly occupied, in 
 
180 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 endeavouring to correct, by his precepts, the evil 
 propensities that he had discovered in the Indian, 
 during their conversation ; which the latter heard 
 in profound, but respectful attention. On the ar 
 rival of the young hunter and the lady, they en 
 tered the building. 
 
 The house stood at some distance from the vil 
 lage, in the centre of a field, surrounded by stumps, 
 that were peering above the snow, bearing caps 
 of pure white nearly two feet in thickness. Not 
 a tree or a shrub was nigh it ; but the house, ex 
 ternally, exhibited that cheerless, unfinished as 
 pect, which is so common to the hastily-erected 
 dwellings of a new country. The uninviting cha 
 racter of its outside was, however, happily con 
 trasted by the exquisite neatness, and comfortable 
 warmth, within. 
 
 They entered an apartment that was fitted as a 
 parlour, though the large fire-place, with its culi 
 nary arrangements, betrayed the domestic uses to 
 which it was occasionally applied. The bright 
 blaze from the hearth rendered the light, that pro 
 ceeded from the candle that Louisa produced, un 
 necessary; for the scanty furniture of the room 
 was easily seen and examined by the former. The 
 floor was covered, in the centre, by a carpet made 
 of rags, a species of manufacture that was, then, 
 and yet continues to be, much in use, in the inte 
 rior ; while its edges, that were exposed to view, 
 were of unspotted cleanliness. There was a tri 
 fling air of better life, in a tea-table and work stand, 
 as well as in an old-fashioned mahogany book-case ; 
 but the chairs, the dining-table, and the rest of 
 the furniture, were of the plainest and cheapest 
 construction. Against the walls were hung a few 
 specimens of needlework and drawing, the former 
 
THE PIONEERS. 181 
 
 executed with great neatness, though of somewhat 
 equivocal merit in their designs, while the latter 
 were strikingly deficient in both. 
 
 One of the former represented a tomb, with a 
 youthful female weeping over it, exhibiting a 
 church with arched windows, in the back-ground. 
 On the tomb were the names, with the dates of 
 the births and deaths, of several individuals, all of 
 whom bore the name of Grant. An extremely 
 cursory glance at this record, was sufficient to dis 
 cover to the young hunter the domestic state of 
 the divine. He there read, that he was a widower, 
 and that the innocent and timid maiden, who had 
 been his companion, was the only surviver of six 
 children. The knowledge of the dependence, 
 which each of these meek Christians had on the 
 other, for happiness, threw an additional charm 
 around the gentle, but kind attentions, which the 
 daughter paid to the father. 
 
 These observations occurred while the party 
 were seating themselves before the cheerful fire, 
 during which time there was a suspension of their 
 discourse. But when each was comfortably ar 
 ranged, and Louisa, after laying aside a thin coat 
 of faded silk, and a gipsy hat, that was more be 
 coming to her modest, ingenuous countenance than 
 appropriate to the season, had taken a chair be 
 tween her father and the youth, the former re 
 sumed the conversation. 
 
 " I trust, my young friend," he said, " that the 
 education which you have received has eradicated 
 most of those revengeful principles, which you may 
 have inherited by descent ; for I understand from 
 the expressions of John, that you have some of 
 the blood of the Delaware tribe. Do not mistake 
 me, I beg, for it is not colour, nor lineage, that 
 constitutes merit ; and I know not that he who 
 16 
 
182 THE PIONEERS 
 
 claims affinity to the proper owners of this soil, has 
 not the best right to tread these hills with the 
 lightest conscience." 
 
 Mohegan turned solemnly to the speaker, and, 
 with the peculiarly significant gestures of an In 
 dian, he spoke : 
 
 " Father, you are not yet past the summer of 
 life ; your limbs are young. Goto the highest hill 
 and look around you. All that you see, from the 
 rising to the setting sun, from the head waters of 
 the great spring, to where the i crooked river is 
 hid by the hills, is his. He has Delaware blood 
 and his right is strong. But the brother of Mi- 
 quon is just : he will cut the country in two parts, 
 as the river cuts the low-lands, and will say to the 
 Young Eagle, Child of the Delawares ! take it- 
 Keep it- and be a chief in the land of your fathers." 
 
 " Never !" exclaimed the young hunter, with a 
 vehemence that destroyed the rapt attention, with 
 which the divine and his daughter were listening 
 to the earnest manner of the Indian. " The wolf 
 of the forest is not more rapacious for his prey, than 
 that man is greedy for gold ; and yet his glidings 
 into wealth are as subtle as the movements of a 
 serpent." 
 
 " Forbear, forbear, my son, forbear," interrupt 
 ed Mr. Grant. " These angry passions must be 
 subdued. The accidental injury you have received 
 from Judge Temple has heightened the sense of 
 your hereditary wrongs. But remember that the 
 one was unintentional, and that the other is the ef 
 fect of political changes, which have, in their course, 
 greatly lowered the pride of kings, and swept 
 mighty nations from the face of the earth. Where 
 now are the Philistines, who so often held the 
 children of Israel in bondage ! or that city of Ba 
 bylon, which rioted in luxury and vice, and who 
 
THE PIONEERS. 183 
 
 styled herself the Queen of Nations, in the drunk 
 enness of her pride ? Remember the prayer of 
 our holy litany, where we implore the Divine 
 Power " that it may please thee to forgive our 
 enemies, persecutors, and slanderers, and to turn 
 their hearts." The sin of the wrongs which have 
 been done to the natives is shared by Judge Tem 
 ple only in common with a whole people, and 
 your arm will speedily be restored to its strength." 
 
 " This arm !" repeated the youth, scorniully, 
 pacing the floor in violent agitation. " Think you, 
 sir, that I believe the man a murderer ? Oh, no ! 
 he is too wily, too cowardly, for such a crime. 
 But let him and his daughter riot in their wealth 
 there will a day of retribution come. No, no, no," 
 he continued, as he trod the floor moie calmly 
 " it is for Mohegan to suspect him of such a crime, 
 as an intent to injure me : but the trifle is not 
 worth a second thought." 
 
 He seated himself, and hid his face between his 
 hands, as they rested on his knees. 
 
 tc It is the hereditary violence of a native s pas 
 sion, my child," said Mr. Grant, in a low tone, to 
 his affrighted daughter, who was clinging in terror 
 to his arm. " He is mixed with the blood of the 
 Indians, you have heard ; and neither the refine 
 ments of education, nor the advantages of our ex 
 cellent liturgy, have been able entirely to eradi- 
 cite the evil. But care and time will do much for 
 him yet." 
 
 Although the divine spoke in a low tone, yet 
 what he uttered was heard by the youth, who 
 raised his head, with a smile of indefinite expres 
 sion, and spoke more calmly. 
 
 " Be not alarmed, Miss Grant, at eithei the 
 wildness of my manner, or that of my dress. I 
 have been carried away by passions, that I should 
 
184 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 struggle to repress. I must attribute it, with your 
 father, to the blood in my veins, although I would 
 not impeach my lineage willingly ; for it is all that 
 is left me to boast of. Yes ! I am proud of my 
 descent from a Delaware chief, who was a warrior 
 that ennobled human nature. Old Mohegan was 
 his friend, and will vouch for his virtues." 
 
 Mr. Grant here took up the discourse, and, find 
 ing the young man more calm, and the aged chief 
 attentive, he entered into a full and theological dis 
 cussion of the duty of forgiveness. The conversa 
 tion lasted for more than an hour, when the visit- 
 ers arose, and, after exchanging good wishes with 
 their entertainers, they departed. At the dooi 
 they separated, Mohegan taking the direct route 
 to the village, while the youth moved towards the 
 lake. The divine stood at the entrance of his 
 dwelling, regarding the figure of the aged chief as 
 it glided at an astonishing gait, for his years, along 
 the deep path ; his black, straight hair just visible 
 over the bundle formed by his blanket, which was 
 sometimes blended with the snow, under the sil 
 very light of the moon. From the rear of the 
 house was a window, that overlooked the lake ; 
 and here Louisa was found by her father, when he 
 entered, gazing intently on some object in the 
 direction of the eastern mountain. He approached 
 the spot, and saw the tall figure of the young hunt 
 er, at the distance of half a mile, walking with pro 
 digious steps across the wide fields of frozen snow 
 that covered the ice, towards the point where he 
 knew the hut that was inhabited by the Leather- 
 stocking was situated on the margin of the lake, 
 under a rock, that was crowned by pines and hem 
 locks. At the next instant, the wildly-looking 
 form entered the dark shadow, that was cast fron 
 the overhanging trees, and was lost to view. 
 
THE PIONEERS. 185 
 
 " It is marvellous, how long the propensities of 
 the savage continue in that remarkable race," said 
 the good divine ; " but if he perseveres, as he has 
 commenced, his triumph shall yet be complete. 
 Remember me, my child, to lend him the homily 
 against peril of idolatry, at his next visit." 
 
 " Surely, father," cried the maiden, " you do 
 not think him in danger of relapsing into the wor 
 ship of his ancestors!" 
 
 "No, my child," returned the clergy man paying 
 his hand affectionately on her flaxen locks, and 
 smiling ; " his white blood would prevent it ; but 
 there is such a thing as the idolatry of our pas 
 sions." 
 
 16* 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 And I ll drink out of the quart pot, 
 Here s a health to the barley mow. 
 
 Drinking Song 
 
 ON one of the corners, where the two principal 
 streets of Templeton intersected each other, stood, 
 as we have already mentioned, the inn, that was 
 called the " Bold Dragoon." In the original plan, 
 it was ordained that the village should stretch along 
 the little stream, that rushed down the valley, and 
 the street which led from the lake to the academy, 
 was intended to be its western boundary. But 
 convenience frequently frustrates the best regu 
 lated plans. The house of Mr., or as, in conse 
 quence of commanding the militia of that vicinity, 
 he was called, Captain Hollister, had, at an early 
 day, been erected directly facing the main street, 
 and ostensibly interposed a barrier to its further 
 progress. Horsemen, and subsequently teamsters, 
 however, availed themselves of an opening, at the 
 end of the building, to shorten their passage west 
 ward, until, in time, the regular highway was laid 
 out along this course, and houses were gradually 
 built on either side, so as effectually to prevent 
 any subsequent correction of the evil. 
 
 There were two material consequences, which 
 followed this insidious change in the regular plans 
 
THE PIONEERS. 187 
 
 of Marmaduke. The one, that the main-street, af 
 ter running about half its length, was suddenly re 
 duced to precisely that difference m its width ; and 
 the other, that the " Bold Dragoon" became, next 
 to the Mansion-house, by far the most conspicuous 
 edifice in the place. 
 
 This conspicuousness, aided by the characters of 
 the host and hostess, gave the tavern an advantage 
 over all its future competitors, that no circum 
 stances could conquer. An effort was, however, 
 made to do so ; and at the corner diagonally oppo 
 site, stood a new building, that was intended by its 
 occupants to look down all opposition. It was a 
 house of wood, ornamented in the prevailing style 
 of architecture, and, about the roof and balustrades, 
 was one of the three imitators of the Mansion- 
 house. The upper windows were filled with 
 rough boards, secured by nails, to keep out the 
 cold air ; for the edifice was far from finished, al 
 though glass was to be seen in the lower apart 
 ments, and the light of the powerful fires within 
 denoted that it was already inhabited. The ex 
 terior was painted white, on the front and on the 
 end which was exposed to the street ; but in the 
 rear, and on the side which was intended to join 
 the neighbouring house, it was coarsely smeared 
 with Spanish brown. Before the door stood two 
 lofty posts, connected at the top by a beam, from 
 which was suspended an enormous sign, ornament 
 ed around its edges with certain curious carvings 
 in pine boards, and on its faces loaded with ma 
 sonic emblems. Over these mysterious figures, 
 was written, in large letters, " The Templeton 
 Coffee-House and Traveller s Hotel," and be 
 neath them, " By Habakkuk Foote and Joshua 
 Knapp." This was a fearful rival to the " Bold 
 Dragoon," as our readers will the more readily per 
 
188 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 oeive, when we add, that the same sonorous names 
 were to be seen over the door of a newly erected 
 store in the village, a hatter s shop, and the gates 
 of a tan-yard. But, either because too much was 
 attempted to be well executed, or that the " Bold 
 Dragoon" had established a reputation which could 
 not be easily shaken, not only Judge Temple and 
 his friends, but most of the villagers also, who 
 were not in debt to the powerful firm we have 
 named, frequented the inn of Captain Hollister, 
 on all occasions where such a house was necessary. 
 
 On the present evening, the limping veteran, 
 and his consort, were hardly housed, after theii 
 return from the academy, when the sounds of 
 stamping feet at their threshold announced the ap 
 proach of visiters, who were probably assembling 
 with a view to compare opinions on the subject 
 of the ceremonies they had witnessed. 
 
 The public, or, as it was called, the " bar-room," 
 of the " Bold Dragoon," was a spacious apartment, 
 lined on three sides with benches, and on the fourth 
 by fire-places. Of the latter, there were two, of 
 such size as to occupy, with their enormous jambs, 
 the whole of that side of the apartment where they 
 were placed, excepting room enough for a door or 
 two, and a little apartment in one corner, which 
 was protected by miniature palisadoes, and pro 
 fusely garnished with bottles and glasses. In the 
 entrance to this sanctuary, Mrs. Hollister was 
 seated with great gravity in her air, while her 
 husband occupied himself with stirring the fires ; 
 moving the logs with a large stake, burnt to a point 
 at one end. 
 
 " There, Sargeant dear," said the landlady, after 
 she thought the veteran had got the logs arranged 
 in the most judicious manner, " give over poking 
 the fires, for it s no good yee ll be doing, now that 
 
THE PIONEERS. 189 
 
 they burn so convaniently. There s the glasses 
 on the table there, and the mug that the Doctor 
 was taking his cider and ginger in, before the fire 
 here, jist put them in the bar, will ye ? for we ll 
 be having the Jooge, and the Major, and Mr. Jones, 
 down the night, widout reckoning Benjamin Poomp, 
 and the Lawyers : so ye ll be fixing the room tidy; 
 and put both flip-irons in the coals ; and tell Jude, 
 the lazy, black baste, that if she s no be claneing 
 up the kitchen, I ll jist turn her out of the house, 
 and she may live wid the jontlemen that kape the 
 * Coffee-house, good luck to em. Och ! Sar 
 geant, sure it s a great privilege to go to a mateing, 
 where a body can sit asy, widout joomping up and 
 down so often, as this Mr. Grant is doing the same." 
 " It s a privilege at all times, Mistress Hollister, 
 whether we stand or be seated ; or, as good Mr. 
 Whitefield used to do, after he had made a weari 
 some day s march, get on our knees and pray, like 
 Moses of old, with a flanker to the right and left, 
 to lift his hands to heaven," returned her husband, 
 who composedly performed what she had directed 
 to be done. " It was a very pretty fight, Betty, 
 that the Israelites had, on that day, with the Ama- 
 lekites. It seems that they fout on a plain, for 
 Moses is mentioned, as having gone on to th3 
 heights, to overlook the battle, and wrestle in 
 prayer ; and if I should judge, with my little lam 
 ing, the Israelites depended mainly on their horse, 
 for it is written, that Joshua cut up the enemy with 
 the edge of the sword: from which I infer, not 
 only that they were horse, but well disciplynM 
 troops. Indeed, it says as much as that they 
 were chosen men ; quite likely volunteers ; but 
 raw dragoons seldom strike with the edge of their 
 swords, particularly if the weapon be any way 
 crooked." 
 
190 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 " Pshaw ! why do ye bother yourself wid taxts^ 
 man, about so small a matter," interrupted the 
 landlady; "sure it was the Lord who was wid 
 em ; for he always sided wid the Jews, at first, 
 before they fell away ; and it s but little matter 
 what kind of men Joshua commanded, so that he 
 was doing the right bidding. Aven them cursed 
 millaishy, the Lord forgi e me for swearing, that 
 was the death of him, wid their cowardice, would 
 have carried the day in old times. There s no 
 rason to be thinking that the soldiers was used to 
 the drill." 
 
 "I must say, Mrs. Hollister," rejoined her hus 
 band, " that I have not often seen raw troops fight 
 better than the left flank of the militia, at the time 
 you mention. They rallied very handsomely, and 
 that without beat of drum, which is no easy thing 
 to do under fire, and were very steady till he fell. 
 But the Scriptures contain no unnecessary words; 
 and I will maintain, that horse, who know how to 
 strike with the edge of the sword, must be well 
 disciplyn d. Many a good sarmon has been preach 
 ed about smaller matters than that one word ! If 
 the text was not meant to be particular, why 
 wasn t it written, with the sword, and not with 
 the edge? Now, a back-handed stroke, on the 
 edge, takes long practice. Goodness ! what an ar 
 gument would Mr. Whkefield make of that word 
 edge ! As to the Captain, if he had only called 
 up the guard of dragoons, when he rallied the foot, 
 they would have shown the inimy what the edge 
 of a sword was ; for, although there was no com 
 missioned officer with them, yet I think I may say," 
 the veteran continued, stiffening his cravat about 
 ihe throat, and raising himself up, with the air of 
 a drill-sergeant, " they were led by a man, who 
 M how to bring them on, in spite of the ra- 
 
THE PIONEERS. 191 
 
 " Is it lade on ye would ?" cried the landlady, 
 " when ye know yourself, Mr. Hollister, that the 
 baste he rode was but little able to joomp from one 
 rock to another, and the animal was as spry as a 
 squirrel ? Och ! but it s useless to talk, for he s 
 gone this many a long year. I would that he had 
 lived to see the true light ; but there s mercy for a 
 brave sowl, that died in the saddle, fighting for the 
 liberty. It s a poor tomb-stone they have given 
 him, any way, and many a good one that died like 
 himself : but the sign is very like, and I will be 
 kapeing it up, while the blacksmith can make a 
 hook for it to swing on, for all the coffee-houses 
 betwane this and Albany." 
 
 There is no saying where this desultory conver 
 sation would have led the worthy couple, had not 
 the men, who were stamping the snow off their feet, 
 on the little platform before the door, suddenly 
 ceased their occupation, and entered the bar-room. 
 
 For ten or fifteen minutes, the different individu 
 als, who intended either to bestow or receive edi 
 fication, before the fires of the " Bold Dragoon," 
 on that evening, were collecting, until the benches 
 were nearly filled with men of different occupa 
 tions. Dr. Todd, and a slovenly -looking, half-gen 
 teel young man, who took tobacco profusely, wore 
 a coat of imported cloth, cut with something like a 
 fashionable air, frequently exhibited a large French 
 silver watch, with a chain of woven hair, and who, 
 altogether, seemed as much above the artisans 
 around him, as he was inferior to the real gentle 
 man, occupied a high-back, wooden settee, in the 
 most comfortable corner in the apartment. 
 
 Sundry brown mugs, containing cider or beer ; 
 were placed between the heavy andirons, and little 
 groups were formed among the guests, as subjects 
 nrose, or the liquor was passed from one to the 
 
192 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 other. No man was seen to drink by himself, nor 
 in any instance was more than one vessel consider 
 ed necessary for the same beverage ; but the glass, 
 or the mug, was passed from hand to hand, until a 
 chasm in the line, or a regard to the rights of own 
 ership would restore the dregs of the potation to 
 him who defrayed the cost. 
 
 Toasts were uniformly drunk ; and occasionally, 
 some one, who conceived himself peculiarly endow 
 ed by nature to shine in the way of wit, would at 
 tempt some such sentiment as " hoping that he" 
 who treated, " might make a better man than his 
 father ;" or, " live till all his friends wished him 
 dead ;" while the more humble pot-companion con 
 tented himself by saying, with a most imposing 
 gravity in his air, u come, here s luck," or by ex 
 pressing some other equally comprehensive desire. 
 In every instance, the veteran landlord was re 
 quested to imitate the custom of the cup-bearers to 
 kings, and taste the liquor he presented, by the 
 significant invitation of " after you is manners ;" 
 with which request he ordinarily complied, by wet 
 ting his lips, first expressing the wish of " here s 
 hoping," leaving it to the imagination of the hear 
 ers to fill the vacuum by whatever good each thought 
 most desirable. During these movements, the land 
 lady was busily occupied with mixing the various 
 compounds, required by her customers, with her 
 own hands, and occasionally exchanging greetings 
 and inquiries concerning the conditions of their re 
 spective families, with such of the villagers as ap 
 proached " the bar." 
 
 At length the common thirst being in some mea 
 sure assuaged, conversation of a more general na 
 ture became the order of the hour. The physician, 
 and his companion, who was one of the two law 
 yers of the village, being considered the best quati- 
 
THE PIONEERS. 193 
 
 fed to maintain a public discourse with credit, were 
 the principal speakers, though a remark was ha 
 zarded, now and then, by Mr. Doolittle, who was 
 thought to be their inferior only in the enviable 
 point of education. A general silence was pro 
 duced on all but the two speakers, by the follow 
 ing observation from the practitioner of the law : 
 
 " So, Dr. Todd, I understand that you have been 
 performing an important operation, this evening, by 
 cutting a charge of buck-shot from the shoulder of 
 the son of Leather-stocking ?" 
 
 " Yes, sir," returned the other, elevating his lit 
 tle head, with an air of great importance. " I had 
 a small job up at the Judge s in that way : it was, 
 however, but a trifle to what it might have been, 
 had it gone through the body. The shoulder is 
 not a very vital part ; and I think the young 
 man will soon be well. But I did not know that 
 the patient was a son of Leather-stocking : it is 
 news to me, to hear that Natty had a wife." 
 
 " It is by no means a necessary consequence," 
 returned the other, winking with a shrewd look 
 around the bar-room ; " there is such a thing, I 
 suppose you know, in law, as a films nullius. " 
 
 " Spake it out, man," exclaimed the landlady ; 
 
 spake it out in king s English ; what for should 
 ye be talking Indian, in a room full of Christian 
 folks, though it is about a poor hunter, who is but 
 a little better in his ways than the wild savages 
 themselves ? Och ! it s to be hoped that the mis 
 sionaries will, in his own time, make a convarsion 
 of the poor divils ; and then it will matter but lit 
 tle, of what colour is the skin, or wedder there be 
 wool or hair on the head." 
 
 " Oh ! it is Latin, not Indian, Miss Hollister," 
 returned the lawyer, repeating his winks and shrewd 
 looks ; " and Dr. Todd understands Latin, or how 
 17 
 
194 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 would he read the labels on his gallipots and draw 
 ers ? No, no, Miss Hollister, the Doctor under 
 stands me ; don t you, Doctor ?" 
 
 " Hem why I guess I am not far out of the 
 way," returned Elnathan, endeavouring to imitate 
 the expression of the other s countenance, by look 
 ing jocular ; " Latin is a queer language, gentle 
 men ; now I rather guess there is no one in the 
 room except Squire Lippet, who can believe that 
 Far. Av. means oatmeal, in English." 
 
 The lawyer in his turn was a good deal embar 
 rassed by this display of learning ; for, although he 
 actually had taken his first degree at one of the 
 eastern universities, he was somewhat puzzled 
 with the terms used by his companion. It was 
 dangerous, however, to appear to be out-done in 
 learning in a public bar-room, and before so many 
 of his clients ; he therefore put the best face on 
 the matter, and laughed knowingly, as if there 
 were a good joke concealed under it, that was un 
 derstood only by the physician and himself. All 
 this was attentively observed by the listeners, who 
 exchanged looks of approbation ; and the expres 
 sions of " tonguey man," and " I guess Squire Lip- 
 pet knows, if any body doos," were heard in dif 
 ferent parts of the room, as vouchers for the admi 
 ration of his auditors. Thus encouraged, the law 
 yer rose from his chair, and turning his back to 
 the fire, facing the company, he continued 
 
 " The son of Natty, or the son of nobody, I 
 hope the young man is not going to let the matter 
 drop. This is a country of laws; and I should 
 like to see it fairly tried, whether a man who owns, 
 or says he owns, a hundred thousand acres of land, 
 has any more right to shoot a body, than another. 
 What do you think of it, Dr. Todd ?" 
 
 " Oh ! sir, I am of opinion that the gentleman 
 
THE PIONEERS. 195 
 
 will soon be well, as I said before ; the wownd isn t 
 in a vital part ; and as the ball was extracted so 
 soon, and the shoulder was what I call well attend 
 ed to, I do not think there is as much danger as 
 there might have been." 
 
 " I say, Squire Doolittle," continued the angry 
 attorney, " you are a magistrate, and know* what is 
 law, and what is not law. I ask you, sir, if shoot 
 ing a man is a thing that is to be settled so very 
 easily ? Suppose, sir, that the young man had a 
 wife and family ; and suppose that he was a me 
 chanic, like yourself, sir ; and suppose that his fa 
 mily depended on him for bread ; and suppose that 
 the ball, instead of merely going through the flesh, 
 had broken the shoulder-blade, and crippled him 
 for ever; I ask you all, gentlemen, supposing this 
 to be the case, whether a jury wouldn t give what 
 I call handsome damages ?" 
 
 As the close of this supposititious case w r as ad 
 dressed to the company, generally, Hiram did not, 
 at first, consider himself called on for a reply ; but 
 finding the eyes of the listeners bent on him in ex 
 pectation, he remembered his character for judicial 
 discrimination, and spoke, observing a due degree 
 of deliberation and dignity in his manner. 
 
 " Why, if a man should shoot another," he said, 
 " and if he should do it on purpose, and if the law 
 took notice on t, and if a jury should find him 
 guilty, it would be likely to turn out a state-prison 
 matter." 
 
 " It would so, sir," returned the attorney. 
 * c The law, gentlemen, is no respecter of persons, 
 in a free country. It is one of the great blessings 
 that has been handed down to us from our ances 
 tors, that all men are equal in the eye of the law- 
 as they are by nater. Though some may get pro 
 perty, no one knows how, yet they are not privi- 
 
196 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 leged to transgress the laws, any more than the 
 poorest citizen in the state. This is my notion, 
 gentlemen ; and I think that if a man had a mind 
 to bring this matter up, something might be made 
 out of it, that would help pay for the salve ha 
 Doctor?" 
 
 " Why sir," returned the physician, who appear 
 ed a little uneasy at the turn the conversation was 
 taking, " I have the promise of Judge Temple, be 
 fore men not but what I would take his word as 
 soon as his note of hand but it was before men. 
 Let me see there was Mounshier Ler Quow, and 
 Squire Jones, and Major Hartmann, and Miss Pet- 
 tibone, and one or two of the blacks by, when he 
 said that his pocket would amply reward me for 
 what I did." 
 
 " Was the promise made before or after the ser 
 vice was performed ?" asked the attorney. 
 
 " It might have been both," returned the dis 
 creet physician ; " though I m certain he said so, 
 before I undertook the dressing." 
 
 " But it seems that he said his pocket should re 
 ward you, Doctor," observed Hiram. " Now I 
 don t know that the law will hold a man to such a 
 promise ; he might give you his pocket with six 
 pence in t, and tell you to take your payout on t." 
 
 " That w r ould not be a reward in the eye of the 
 law," interrupted the attorney " not what is call 
 ed a quid pro quo ; nor is the pocket to be con 
 sidered as an agent, but as part of a man s own 
 person, that is, in this particular. I am of opinion 
 that an action would lie on that promise, and I will 
 undertake to bear him out, free of costs, if he don t 
 recover." 
 
 To this proposition the physician made no reply ; 
 but he was observed to cast his eyes around him, 
 as if to enumerate the witnesses, in order to sub- 
 
THE PIONEERS. 197 
 
 stantiate this promise also, at a future day, should 
 it prove necessary. A subject so momentous, as 
 that of suing Judge Temple, was not very palatable 
 to the present company, in so public a place ; and 
 a short silence ensued, that was only interrupted 
 by the opening of the door, and the entrance of 
 Natty himself. 
 
 The old hunter carried in his hand his never- 
 failing companion, his rifle ; and although all of the 
 company were uncovered, excepting the lawyer, 
 who wore his hat on one side, with a certain know 
 ing air, Natty moved to the front of one of the 
 fires, without in the least altering any part of his 
 dress or appearance. Several questions were ad 
 dressed to him, on the subject of the game he had 
 killed, which he answered readily, and with some 
 little interest ; and the landlord, between whom 
 and Natty there existed much cordiality, on ac 
 count of their both having been soldiers in their 
 youth, offered him a glass of a liquid, which, if we 
 might judge from its reception, was no unwelcome 
 guest. When the forester had gotten his potation 
 also, he quietly took his seat on the end of one of 
 the logs, that lay nigh to the fires, and the slight 
 interruption, produced by his entrance, seemed to 
 be forgotten. 
 
 " The testimony of the blacks could not be 
 taken, sir," continued the lawyer, " for they are 
 all the property of Mr. Jones, who owns their 
 time. But there is a way by which Judge Tem 
 ple, or any other man, might be made to pay foi 
 shooting another, and for the cure in the bargain. 
 -There is a way, I say, and that without going 
 into the { court of errors too." 
 
 " And a mighty big error ye would make of it, 
 Mister Todd," cried the landlady, " should ye be 
 putting the matter into the law at all, with Joodge 
 17* 
 
198 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 Temple, who has a purse as long as one of them 
 pines on the hill, and who is an asy man to dale 
 wid, if yees but mind the humour of him. He s a 
 good man is Joodge Temple, and a kind one, and 
 one who will be no the likelier to do the pratty 
 thing, bekaase ye would wish to tarrify him wid 
 the law. I know of but one objaction to the same, 
 which is an over-carelessness about his sowl. It s 
 nather a Methodic, nor a Papish,norPrasbetyrian, 
 that he is, but jist nothing at all : and it s hard to 
 think that he, c who will not fight the good fight, 
 under the banners of a rig lar church, in this world, 
 will be mustered among the chosen in heaven, as 
 my husband, the Captain there, as ye call him, 
 says though there is but one captain that I know, 
 who desaarves the name. I hopes, Lather-stock 
 ing, ye ll no be foolish, and putting the boy up to 
 try the law in the matter ; for twill be an evil day 
 to ye both, when ye first turn the skin of so pace- 
 able an animal as a sheep into a bone of conten 
 tion. The lad is wilcome to his drink for nothing, 
 until his shouther will bear the rifle ag in." 
 
 " Well, that s gin rous," was heard from several 
 mouths at once, at this liberal offer of the landlady ; 
 while the hunter, instead of expressing any of that 
 indignation which he might be supposed to feel, at 
 hearing the hurt of his young companion alluded 
 to, opened his mouth, with the silent laugh for 
 which he was so remarkable ; and after he had in 
 dulged his humour, made this reply 
 
 " I know d the Judge would do nothing with his 
 smooth-bore, when he got out of his sleigh. I ne 
 ver see d but one smooth-bore, that would carry 
 at all, and that was a French ducking-piece, upon 
 the big lakes : it had a barrel half as long ag iii as 
 my rifle, and would throw fine shot into a goose, 
 at a hundred yards ; but it made dreadful work 
 
THE PIONEERS. 199 
 
 fvith the game, and you wanted a boat to carry it 
 about in. When I went with Sir William ag in the 
 French, at Fort Niagara, all the rangers used the 
 rifle ; and a dreadful weapon it is, in the hands of 
 one who knows how to charge it, and keeps a 
 steady aim. The Captain knows, for he says he 
 was a soldier in Shirley s, and though they were 
 nothing but baggonet-men, he must know how we 
 cut up the French and Iroquois in the skrimmages, 
 in that war. Chingachgook, which means c Big 
 Sarpent in English, old John Mohegan, who lives 
 up at the hut with me, was a great warrior then, 
 and w r as out with us ; he can tell all about it, too ; 
 though he was an overhand for the tomahawk, ne 
 ver firing more than once or twice, before he was 
 running in for the scalps. Ah ! hum ! times is 
 dreadfully altered since then. Why, Doctor, there 
 was nothing but a foot path, or at the most a track 
 for pack-horses, along the Mohawk, from the Gar- 
 man Flats clean up to the forts. Now, they say, 
 they talk of running one of them wide roads with 
 gates on t along the river; first making a road, and 
 then fencing it up ! I hunted one season back of 
 the Kaatskills, nigh-hand to the settlements, and 
 the dogs often lost the scent, when they com d to 
 them highways, there was so much travel on them ; 
 though I can t sav that the brutes was of a very 
 good breed. Old Hector will wind a deer in the 
 fall of the year, across the broadest place in the 
 Otsego, and that is a mile and a half, for I paced it 
 myself on the ice, when the tract was first surveyed 
 under the Indian grant." 
 
 " It sanies to me, Natty, but a sorry compli 
 ment, to call your comrad after the evil one," said 
 the landlady ; " and it s no much like a snake that 
 old John is looking now. Nimrood would be a more 
 besaming name for the lad, and a more Christian too, 
 
200 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 seeing that it comes from the Bible. The sargeant 
 read me the chapter about him, the night before 
 my christening, and a mighty asement it was, to 
 listen to any thing from the book." 
 
 " Old John and Chingachgook were very differ 
 ent men to look on," returned the hunter, shaking 
 his head at his melancholy recollections. " In the 
 fifty-eighth war, he was in the middle of man 
 hood, and was taller than now by three inches. If 
 you had seen him, as I did, the morning we beat 
 Dieskau, from behind our log walls, you would 
 have called him as comely a red-skin as ye ever 
 set eyes on. He was naked, all to his breech- 
 cloth and leggens ; and you never seed a creater 
 so handsomely painted. One side of his face was 
 red, and the other black. His head was shaved 
 clean, all to a few hairs on the crown, where he 
 wore a tuft of eagle s feathers, as bright as if they 
 had come from a peacock s tail. He had coloured 
 his sides., so that they looked just like an atomy, 
 ribs and all ; for Chingachgook had a great notion 
 in such things : so that, what with his bold, fiery 
 countenance, his knife, and his tomahawk, I have 
 never seed a fiercer warrior on the ground. He 
 played his part, too, like a man ; for I seen him 
 next day, with thirteen scalps on his pole. And 1 
 will say that for the Big Snake, that he always 
 dealt fair, and never scalped any that he didn t 
 kill with his own hands." 
 
 " Well, well," cried the landlady ; " fighting is 
 fighting, any way, and there is different fashions in 
 the thing ; though I can t say that I relish mangling 
 a body after the breath is out of it ; neither do I 
 think it can be uphild by doctrine. I hope, sar 
 geant, ye niver was helping in sich evil worrek." 
 
 " It was my duty to keep my ranks, and to stand 
 or fall by the baggonet or lead," returned the vete- 
 
THE PIONEERS. 201 
 
 ran. " I was then in the fort, and, seldom leaving 
 my place, saw but little of the savages, who kep 1 
 on the flanks, or in front, skrimmaging. I remem 
 ber, howsomever, to have heard mention made of 
 the Great Snake j> as he was called, for he was a 
 chief of renown ; but little did I ever expect to see 
 him enlisted in the cause of Christianity, and civi 
 lized like old John." 
 
 " Oh ! he was christianized by the Moravians, 
 who was always over intimate with the Dela- 
 wares," said Leather-stocking. " It s my opinion, 
 that, had they been left to themselves, there would 
 be no such doings now, about the head waters of 
 the two rivers, and that these hills mought have 
 been kept as good hunting-ground, by their right 
 owner, who is not too old to carry a rifle, and 
 whose sight is as true as a fish-hawk, hovering" 
 
 He was interrupted by more stamping at the 
 door, and presently the party from the Mansion- 
 house entered, followed by the Indian himself. 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 There s quart pot, pint pot, half-pint, 
 Gill pot, half-gill, nipperkin, 
 
 And the brown bowl 
 Here s a health to the barley mow, 
 
 My brave boys, 
 Here s a health to the barley mow. 
 
 Drinking Song. 
 
 SOME little commotion was produced by the ap 
 pearance of the new guests, during which the law 
 yer disappeared from the room. Most of the men 
 approached Marmaduke, and shook his offered 
 hand, hoping " that the Judge was well ;" while 
 Major Hartmann, having, laid aside his hat and wig, 
 and substituted for the latter a warm, peaked, wool 
 len night-cap, took his seat very quietly on one end 
 of the settee, which was relinquished by its former 
 occupants. His tobacco-box was next produced, 
 and a clean pipe was handed him by the landlord. 
 When he had succeeded in raising a smoke, the 
 Major gave a long whiff, and, turning his head to 
 wards the bar, he said 
 
 " Petty, pring in ter toddy." 
 
 In the mean time, the Judge had exchanged his 
 salutations w T ith most of the company, and taken a 
 place by the side of the Major, and Richard had 
 bustled himself into the most comlbrtable seat in 
 
THE PIONEERS. 203 
 
 the room. Mr. Le Quoi was the last seated, nor 
 did he venture to place his chair finally, until, by 
 frequent removals, he had ascertained that he could 
 not possibly intercept a ray of heat from any indi 
 vidual present. Mohegan found a place on an end 
 of one of the benches, and somewhat approximated 
 to the bar. When these movements had subsided, 
 the Judge remarked, pleasantly 
 
 " Well, Betty, I find you retain your popularity, 
 through all weathers, against all rivals, and among 
 all religions. How liked you the sermon ?" 
 
 " Is it the sarmon ?" exclaimed the landlady. 
 c I can t say but it was rasonable ; but the prayers 
 is mighty unasy. It s no so small a matter for a 
 body, in their fifty-nint year, to be moving so 
 much in church. Mr. Grant sames a godly man, 
 any way, and his garrel is a hoomble one, and a 
 devout, Here, John, is a mug of cider lac d with 
 whisky. An Indian will drink cider, though he 
 niver be athirst." 
 
 " I must say," observed Hiram, with due deli 
 beration, " that it was a tonguey thing ; and I ra 
 ther guess that it gave considerable satisfaction. 
 There was one part, though, which might have 
 been left out, or something else put in ; but then, 
 f s pose that, as it was a written discourse, it is not 
 BO easily altered, as where a minister preaches 
 without notes." 
 
 " Ay ! there s the rub, Joodge," cried the land 
 lady. " How can a man stand up and be praching 
 his word, when all that he is saying is written 
 down, and he is as much tied to it as iver a thaving 
 dragoon was to the pickets ?" 
 
 "Well, well," cried Marmaduke, waving his 
 hand for silence, " there is enough said ; as Mr. 
 Grant told us, there are different sentiments on 
 such subjects, and in my opinion he spoke most 
 
204 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 sensibly. So, Jotham, I am told you have sold 
 your betterments to a new settler, and have moved 
 into the village and opened a school. Was it cash 
 or dicker ?" 
 
 The man who was thus addressed occupied a 
 seat immediately behind Marmaduke ; and one, 
 who was ignorant of the extent of the Judge s ob 
 servation, might have thought he would have es 
 caped notice. He was of a thin, shapeless figure, 
 with a discontented expression of countenance, and 
 with something extremely shiftless in his whole 
 air. Thus spoken to, after turning and twisting a 
 little, by way of preparation, he made a reply. 
 
 " Why, part cash, and part dicker. I sold out 
 to a Pumfret-man, who was so thin forehanded. 
 He was to give me ten dollars an acre for the 
 clearin, and one dollar an acre over the first cost, 
 on the wood-land ; and we agreed to leave the 
 buildins to men. So I tuck Asa Mountagu, and he 
 tuck Absalom Bement, and they two tuck old 
 Squire Naphtali Green. And so they had a 
 meetin, and made out a vardict of eighty dollars 
 for the buildins. There was twelve acres of clear- 
 in, at ten dollars, and eighty-eight at one, and the 
 whull came to jist two hundred and eighty-six dol 
 lars and a half, after paying the men." 
 
 " Hum," said Marmaduke : " what did you give 
 for the place ?" 
 
 " Why, besides what s comin to the Judge, I 
 gi n my brother Tim a hundred dollars for his bar 
 gain ; but then there s a new house on t, that cost 
 me sixty more, and I paid Moses a hundred dollars, 
 for choppin, and loggin, and sowin ; so that the 
 whull stood me in about two hundred and sixty 
 dollars. But then I had a great crop off on t, and 
 as I got jist twenty-six dollars and a half more than 
 it cost, I conclude T made a pretty good trade on t. 7 
 
THE PIONEERS. 205 
 
 " Yes, but you forgot that the crop was yours 
 without the trade, and you have turned yourself 
 out of doors for twenty-six dollars." 
 
 " Oh ! the Judge is clean out," said the man, 
 with a look of sagacious calculation ; " he turned 
 out a span of horses, that is wuth a hundred and 
 fifty dollars of any man s money, with a bran new 
 wagon ; fifty doUars in cash ; and a good note for 
 eighty mofe ; and a side saddle that was valood at 
 seven and a half so there was jist twelve shillings 
 betwixt us. I wanted him to turn out a set of har 
 ness, and take the cow and the sap-troughs. He 
 wouldn t but I saw through it ; he thought I 
 should have to buy the tacklin afore I could use 
 the wagon and horses ; but I know d a thing or two 
 myself; I should like to know of what use is the 
 tacklin to him ! I offered him to trade back ag in, 
 for one hundred and fifty-five. But my woman 
 said she wanted a churn, so I tuck a churn for the 
 change." 
 
 " And what do you mean to do with your time 
 this winter ? you must remember that time is mo 
 ney." 
 
 " Why, as the master is gone down country, to 
 see his mother, who, they say, is going to make a 
 die on t, I agreed to take the school in hand, till 
 he comes back. If times doosn t get wuss in the 
 spring, I ve some notion of going into trade, or 
 maybe I may move off to the Genessee ; they say 
 they are carryin on a great stroke of business that- 
 a-way. If the wust comes to the wust, I can but 
 work at my trade, for I was brought up in a shoe 
 manufactory." 
 
 It would seem, that Marmaduke did not think 
 
 his society of sufficient value, to attempt inducing 
 
 him to remain where he was ; for he addressed no 
 
 further discourse to the man, but turned his alien- 
 
 18 
 
206 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 lion to other subjects. After a short pause, Hiram 
 ventured a question : 
 
 " What news does the Judge bring us from the 
 legislater ? it s not likely that congress has done 
 much this session ; or maybe the French haven t 
 fit any more battles lately ?" 
 
 " The French, since they have beheaded their 
 king, have done nothing but fight," returned the 
 judge. " The character of the nation seems 
 changed. I knew many French gentlemen, during 
 our war, and they all appeared to me to be men 
 of great humanity and goodness of heart ; but 
 these Jacobins are as blood-thirsty as bull-dogs." 
 
 " There was one Roshambow wid us, down at 
 Yorrek-town," cried the landlady ; " a mighty 
 pratty man he was, too ; and their horse was the 
 very same. It was there that the Sargeant got 
 the hurt in the leg, from the English batteries, bad 
 luck to em." 
 
 " Ah ! mon pauvre Roi !" murmured Monsieur 
 Le Quoi. 
 
 " The legislature have been passing laws," con 
 tinued Marmaduke, " that the country much re 
 quired. Among others, there is an act, prohibit 
 ing the drawing of seines, at any other than pro 
 per seasons, in certain of our streams and small 
 lakes ; and another, to prohibit the killing of deer 
 in the teeming months. These are laws that were 
 loudly called for, by judicious men ; nor do I de 
 spair of getting an act, to make the unlawful felling 
 of timber a criminal offence." 
 
 The hunter listened to this detail with breath 
 less attention, and when the Judge had ended, he 
 laughed in open derision for a moment, before he 
 made this reply : 
 
 " You may make your laws, Judge, but who 
 will you find to watch the mountains through the 
 
THE PIONEERS. 207 
 
 long summer days, or the lakes at night ? Game 
 is game, and he who finds may kill ; that has been 
 the law in these mountains for forty years, to my 
 sartain knowledge; and I think one old law is 
 worth two new ones. None but a green-one 
 would wish to kill a doe with a fa n by its side, 
 unless his moccasins was gettin old, or his leggins 
 ragged, for the flesh is lean and coarse. But a rifle 
 rings among them rocks along the lake shore, 
 sometimes, as if fifty pieces were fired at once : 
 it would be hard to tell where the man stood \vho 
 pulled the trigger." 
 
 " Armed with the dignity of the law, Mr. Bump- 
 po," returned the Judge, gravely, " a vigilant ma 
 gistrate can prevent much of the evil that has 
 hitherto prevailed, and which is already rendering 
 the game scarce. I hope to live to see the day, 
 when a man s rights in his game shall be as much 
 respected as his title to his farm." 
 
 " Your titles and your farms are all new to 
 gether," cried Natty ; " but laws should be equal, 
 and not more for one than another. I shot a deer, 
 last Wednesday was a fortnight, and it floundered 
 through the snow-banks till it got over a brush 
 fence ; I catch d the lock of my rifle in the twigs, 
 in following, and was kept back, until finally the 
 creater got off. Now I want to know who is to 
 pay me for that deer ; and a fine buck it was. If 
 there hadn t been a fence, I should have gotten 
 another shot into it ; and I never draw d upon any 
 thing that hadn t wings three times running, in my 
 born days. No, no, Judge, it s the farmers that 
 makes the game scearce, and not the hunters." 
 
 " Ter teer is not so plenty as in ter old war, 
 Pumppo," said the Major, who had been an atten 
 tive listener, amidst clouds of smoke ; " put ter lant 
 
208 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 is not mate as for ter teer to live on, put for 
 Christians." 
 
 " Why, Major, I believe you re a friend to jus 
 tice and the right, though you go so often to the 
 grand house ; but it s a hard case to a man, to have 
 his honest calling for a livelihood stopt by sitch 
 laws, and that too when, if right was done, he 
 mought hunt or fish on any day in the week, or 
 on the best flat in the Patent, if he was so minded." 
 
 " I unterstant you, Letter-stockint," returned 
 the Major, fixing his black eyes, with a look of 
 peculiar meaning, on the hunter ; " put you tidn t 
 use to be so prutent, as to look ahet mit so much 
 care." 
 
 " Maybe there wasn t so much casion," said 
 the hunter, a little sulkily ; when he sunk into a 
 profound silence, from which he was not roused 
 for some time. 
 
 " The Judge was saying so thin about the 
 French," Hiram observed, when the pause in the 
 conversation had continued a decent time. 
 
 " Yes, sir," returned Marmaduke, " the Jacobins 
 of France seem rushing from one act of licentious 
 ness to another. They continue those murders, 
 which are dignified by the name of executions. 
 You have heard, that they have added the death 
 of their Queen to the long list of their crimes." 
 
 " Les Betes !" again murmured Monsieur Le 
 Quoi, turning himself suddenly in his chair, with 
 a convulsive start. 
 
 " The province of La Vendee is laid waste by 
 the troops of the republic, and hundreds of its in 
 habitants, who are royalists in their sentiments, 
 are shot at a time. La Vendee is a district in the 
 southwest of France, that continues yet much at 
 tached to the family of the Bourbons ; doubtless 
 
THE PIONEERS. 209 
 
 Monsieur Le Quoi is acquainted with it, and can 
 describe it more faithfully." 
 
 " Non, non, non, mon cher ami," returned the 
 Frenchman, in a suppressed voice, but speaking 
 rapidly, and gesticulating with his right hand, as 
 if for mercy, while with his left he concealed his 
 eyes. 
 
 " There have been many battles fought lately," 
 continued Marmaduke, " and the infuriated repub 
 licans are too often victorious. I cannot say, how 
 ever, that I am sorry they have captured Toulon 
 from the English, for it is a place to which they 
 seem to have a just right." 
 
 " Ah ha !" exclaimed Monsieur Le Quoi, 
 springing on his feet, and flourishing both arms 
 with great animation ; " ces Anglais ! dey be vipt ! 
 De French be one gallant peop , if dere vas gen ral. 
 Ah ha ! Toulon take ; c est bon ! I do vish dat 
 dey take Londre pardonnez moi ; mais, it ees 
 bon !" 
 
 The Frenchman continued to move about the 
 room with great alacrity for a few minutes, repeat 
 ing his exclamations to himself; when, overcome 
 by the contradictory nature of his emotions, he 
 suddenly burst out of the house, and was seen 
 wading through the snow towards his little shop, 
 waving his arms on high, as if to pluck down ho 
 nour from the moon. His departure excited but 
 little surprise, for the villagers were used to his 
 manner ; but Major Hartmann laughed outright, 
 for the first time during his visit, as he lifted the 
 mug, and observed 
 
 " Ter Frenchman is mat put he is goot as for 
 netting to trink ; he is trunk mit joy." 
 
 " The French are good soldiers," said Captain 
 Hollister ; " they stood us in hand a good turn, 
 down at York-town ; nor do I think, although I am 
 18* 
 
THE PIONEERS. 
 
 an ignorant man about the great movements of the 
 army, that his Excellency would have been able to 
 march against Cornwallis, without their reinforce 
 ments." 
 
 " Ye spake the trut , Sargeant," interrupted his 
 wife, " and I would iver have ye be doing the same. 
 It s varry pratty men is the French ; and jist when 
 I stopt the cart, the time when ye was pushing on 
 in front it was, to kape the rig lers in, a rigiment 
 of the jontlemen marched by, and so I dealt them 
 out to their liking. Was it pay I got ? sure did I, 
 and in good solid crowns : the divil a bit of conti 
 nental could they muster among them all, for love 
 nor money. Och ! the Lord forgive me for swear 
 ing, and spakeing of sich vanities : but this I will say 
 for the French, that they paid in good silver ; and 
 one glass would go a great way wid em, for they 
 gin rally handed it back wid a drop in the cup ; and 
 that s a brisk trade, Joodge, where the pay is good, 
 and the men not over partic lar." 
 
 u A thriving trade, Mrs. Hollister," said Marma- 
 duke. u But what has become of Richard ? he 
 jumped up as soon as seated, and has been absent 
 so long that I am fearful he has frozen." 
 
 " No fear of that, cousin duke," cried the gen 
 tleman himself ; " business will sometimes keep a 
 man warm, the coldest night that ever snapt in the 
 mountains. Betty, your husband told me, as we 
 came out of church, that your hogs were getting 
 mangy, so I have been out to take a look at them, 
 and found it true. I stepped across, Doctor, and 
 got your boy to weigh me out a pound of salts, and 
 have been mixing it with their swill. I ll bet a 
 saddle of venison against a gray squirrel, that they 
 are better in a week. And now, Mrs. Hollister, 
 I m ready for a hissing mug of flip." 
 
THE PIONEERS. 211 
 
 " Sure, I know d yee d be wanting that same," 
 said the landlady ; " it s mixt and ready to the 
 boiling. Sargeant, dear, jist be handing up the 
 iron, will ye ? no, the one in the far fire, it s black, 
 ye will see. Ah ! you ve the thing now ; look if 
 it s not as red as a cherry." 
 
 The beverage was heated, and Richard took that 
 kind of draught which men are apt to indulge in, 
 who think that they have just executed a clever 
 thing, especially when they like the liquor. 
 
 " Oh ! you have a hand, Betty, that was formed 
 to mix flip," cried Richard, when he paused for 
 breath. " The very iron has a flavour in it. Here, 
 John, drink, man, drink. I and you and Dr. Todd, 
 have done a good thing with the shoulder of that 
 lad this very night. Duke, I made a song while 
 you were gone one day when I had nothing to 
 do ; so I ll sing you a verse or two, though I haven t 
 really determined on the tune yet : 
 
 What is life but a scene of care, 
 
 Where each one must toil in his way I 
 Then let us be jolly, and prove that we are 
 A set of good fellows, who seem very rare, 
 And can laugh and sing all the day 
 Then let us be jolly, 
 And cast away folly, 
 For grief turns a black head to gray. 
 
 There, duke, what do you think of that ? There 
 13 another verse of it, all but the last line. I 
 haven t got a rhyme for the last line yet. Well, 
 old John, what do you think of the music ? as good 
 as one of your war songs, ha ?" 
 
 " Good," said Mohegan, who had been sharing 
 too deeply in the potations of the landlady, besides 
 paying a proper respect to the passing mugs of the 
 Major and Marmaduke. 
 
212 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 " Pravo ! pravo ! Richart," cried the Major, 
 whose black eyes were beginning to swim in mois 
 ture ; " pravissimo ! it is a goot song ; put Natty 
 Pumppo hast a petter. Letter-stockint, vilt sing ? 
 say, olt poy, vilt sing ter song, as apout ter woots ?" 
 
 " No, no, Major," returned the hunter, with a 
 melancholy shake of the head, " I have lived to see 
 what I thought eyes could never behold in these 
 hills, and I have no heart left for singing. If he, 
 that has a right to be master and ruler here, is 
 forced to squinch his thirst, when a-dry, with snow 
 water, it ill becomes them that have lived by his 
 bounty to be making merry, as if there was no 
 thing in the world but sunshine and summer." 
 
 When he had spoken, Leather-stocking again 
 dropped his head on his knees, and concealed his 
 hard and wrinkled features with his hands. The 
 change from the excessive cold without to the heat 
 of the bar-room, coupled with the depth and fre 
 quency of Richard s draughts, had already levelled 
 whatever inequality there might have existed be 
 tween him and the other guests, on the score of 
 spirits ; and he now held out a pair of swimming 
 mugs of foaming flip towards the hunter, as he 
 cried 
 
 " Merry ! ay ! merry Christmas to you, old boy ! 
 Sunshine and summer ! no ! you are blind, Leather- 
 stocking, tis moonshine and winter ; take these 
 spectacles, and open your eyes 
 
 So let us be jolly, 
 And cast away folly, 
 For grief turns a black head to gray. 
 
 " Hear how old John turns his quavers. What 
 damned dull music an Indian song is, after all, Ma 
 jor. I wonder if they ever sing by note." 
 
 While Richard was singing and talking, Mohe- 
 gan was uttering dull, monotonous tones, keeping 
 
THE PIONEERS. 213 
 
 time by a gentle motion of his head and body. He 
 made use of but few words, and such as he did ut 
 ter were in his native language and consequently 
 only understood by himself and Natty. Without 
 heeding Richard, he continued to sing a kind of 
 wild, melancholy air, that rose, at times, in sudden 
 and quite elevated notes, and then fell again into 
 the low, quavering sounds, that seemed to com 
 pose the character of his music. 
 
 The attention of the company was now much di 
 vided, the men in the rear having formed them 
 selves into little groups, where they were dis 
 cussing various matters; among the principal of 
 which were, the treatment of mangy hogs, and 
 Parson Grant s preaching ; while Dr. Todd was 
 endeavouring to explain to Marmaduke the nature 
 of the hurt received by the young hunter. Mohe- 
 gan continued to sing, while his countenance was 
 becoming vacant, though, coupled with his thick 
 bushy hair, it was assuming an expression very 
 much like brutal ferocity. His notes were gradu 
 ally growing louder, and soon rose to a height that 
 caused a general cessation in the discourse. The 
 hunter now raised his head again, and addressed 
 the old warrior, warmly, in the Delaware language, 
 which, for the benefit of our readers, we shall ren 
 der freely into English. 
 
 " Why do you sing of your battles, Chingach- 
 gook, and of the warriors you have slain, when the 
 worst enemy of all is near you, and keeps the 
 Young Eagle from his rights ? I have fought in as 
 many battles as any warrior in your tribe, but can 
 not boast of my deeds at such a time as this." 
 
 " Hawk-eye," said the Indian, tottering with a 
 doubtful step from his place, " I am the Great 
 Snake of the Delawares ; I can track the Mingoes, 
 like an adder that is stealing on the whip-poor-will s 
 
214 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 eggs, and strike them, like the rattlesnake, dead at 
 a blow. The white man made the tomahawk of 
 Chingachgook bright as the waters of Otsego. when 
 the last sun is shining ; but it is red with the blood 
 of the Maquas." 
 
 " And why have you slain the Mingo warriors ? 
 Was it not to keep these hunting grounds and lakes 
 to your father s children ? and were they not given 
 in solemn council to the Fire-eater ? and does not 
 the blood of a warrior run in the veins of a young 
 chief, who should speak aloud, where his voice is 
 now too low to be heard ?" 
 
 The appeal of the hunter seemed, in some mea 
 sure, to recall the confused faculties of the Indian, 
 who turned his face towards the listeners, and gazed 
 intently on the Judge. He shook his head, throw 
 ing his hair back from his countenance, and ex 
 posed his eyes, that were glaring with a fierce ex 
 pression of wild resentment. But the man was not 
 himself. His hand seemed to make a fruitless ef 
 fort to release his tomahawk, which was confined 
 by its handle to his belt, while his eyes gradually 
 became again vacant. Richard at that instant 
 thrusting a mug before him, his features changed 
 to the grin of idiocy, and seizing the vessel with 
 both hands, he sunk backward on the bench, and 
 drank until satiated, when he made an effort to lay 
 aside the mug, with the helplessness of total ine 
 briety. 
 
 " Shed not blood !" exclaimed the hunter, as he 
 watched the countenance of the Indian in its mo 
 ment of ferocity " but he is drunk, and can do no 
 harm. This is the way with all the savages ; give 
 them liquor, and they make dogs of themselves. 
 Well, well the time will come when right will be 
 done ; and we must have patience." 
 
 Natty still spoke in the Delaware language, and 
 
THE PIONEERS. 215 
 
 of course was not understood. He had hardly con 
 cluded, before Richard cried 
 
 " Well, old John is soon sowed up. Give him 
 a birth, Captain, in the barn, and I will pay for it. 
 I am rich to-night, ten times richer than duke, 
 with all his lands, and military lots, and funded 
 debts, and bonds, and mortgages. 
 
 Come let us be jolly, 
 And cast away folly, 
 For grief 
 
 Drink, King Hiram drink, Mr. Doo-nothing 
 drink, sir, I say. This is a Christmas eve, which 
 comes, you know, but once a year." 
 
 " He ! he ! he ! the Squire is quite moosical to 
 night," said Hiram, whose visage began to give 
 marvellous signs of relaxation. "I rather guess 
 we shall make a church on t yet, Squire ?" 
 
 " A church, Mr. Doolittle ! we will make a ca 
 thedral of it! bishops, priests, deacons, wardens, 
 vestry, and choir ; organ, organist, and bellows ! 
 By the lord Harry, as Benjamin says, we will clap 
 a steeple on the other end of it, and make two 
 churches of it. What say you, duke, will you pay ? 
 ha ! my cousin Judge, wilt pay ?" 
 
 u Thou makest such a noise, Dickon," returned 
 Marmaduke, " it is impossible that I can hear what 
 Dr. Todd is saying. I think thou observedst, it is 
 probable that the wound will fester, so as to occa 
 sion danger to the limb, in this cold weather ?" 
 
 " Out of nater, sir, quite out of nater;" said El- 
 nathan, attempting to expectorate, but succeeding 
 only in throwing a light, frothy substance, like a 
 flake of snow, into the fire " quite out of nater, 
 that a wownd so well dressed, and with the ball 
 in my pocket, should fester. I s pose, as the Judge 
 talks of taking the young man into his house, it will 
 
216 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 be most convenient if I make but one charge 
 on t." 
 
 " I should think one would do," returned Mar- 
 maduke, with that arch smile that so often beamed 
 on his face ; leaving the beholder in doubt whe 
 ther he most enjoyed the character of his compa 
 nion, or his own covert humour. 
 
 The landlord had succeeded in placing the In 
 dian on some straw, in one of his out-buildings, 
 where, covered with his own blanket, John con 
 tinued for the remainder of the night. 
 
 In the mean time, Major Hartmann began to 
 grow noisy and jocular ; glass succeeded glass, and 
 mug after mug was introduced, until the carousal 
 had run deep into the night, or rather morning ; 
 when the veteran German expressed an inclination 
 to return to the Mansion-house. Most of the party 
 had already retired, but Marmaduke knew the ha 
 bits of his friend too well to suggest an earlier ad 
 journment. So soon, however, as the proposal 
 was made, the Judge eagerly availed himself of it, 
 and the trio prepared to depart. Mrs. Hollister at 
 tended them to the door in person, cautioning her 
 guests as to the safest manner of leaving her pre 
 mises. 
 
 " Lane on Mister Jones, Major," said she, " he s 
 young, and will be a support to ye. Well, it s a 
 charming sight to see ye, any way, at the Bould Dra 
 goon : and sure its no harm to be kaping a Christ 
 mas-eve wid a light heart, for it s no telling when 
 we may have sorrow come upon us. So good 
 night, Joodge, and a merry Christmas to ye all, to 
 morrow morning." 
 
 The gentlemen made their adieus as well as they 
 could, and taking the middle of the road, which 
 was a fine, wide, and well-beaten path, they did 
 tolerably well until they reached the gate of the 
 
THE PIONEERS. 1* 
 
 Mansion-house ; but on entering the Judge s do 
 mains, they encountered some slight difficulties. 
 We shall not stop to relate them, but will just men 
 tion that, in the morning, sundry diverging paths 
 were to be seen in the snow ; and that once dur 
 ing their progress to the door, Marmaduke, missing 
 his companions, was enabled to trace them by one 
 of these paths to a spot, where he discovered them 
 with nothing visible but their heads ; Richard sing 
 ing in a most vivacious strain, 
 
 " Come, let oa be jolly, 
 
 And cast away folly, 
 
 For grief turns a black head to fraf." 
 
 19 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 * Ag she lay, on that day, in the Bay of Biscay O P 
 
 PREVIOUSLY to the occurrence of the scene at 
 the " Bold Dragoon," Elizabeth had been safely 
 reconducted to the Mansion-house, where she was 
 left, as its mistress, either to amuse or employ 
 herself during the evening, as best suited her own 
 inclination. Most of the lights were extinguished ; 
 but as Benjamin adjusted, with great care and re 
 gularity, four large candles, in as many massive 
 candlesticks of brass, in a row on the sideboard, 
 the hall possessed a peculiar air of comfort and 
 warmth, contrasted with the cheerless aspect of 
 the room she had left, in the academy. 
 
 Remarkable had been one of the listeners to 
 Mr. Grant, and returned with her resentment, 
 which had been not a little excited by the language 
 of the Judge, somewhat softened by reflection and 
 the worship. She recollected the youth of Eli 
 zabeth, and thought it no difficult task, under pre 
 sent appearances, to exercise that power indirect 
 ly, which hitherto she had enjoyed undisputed. 
 The idea of being governed, or of being compel- 
 ted to pay the deference of servitude, was abso- 
 
THE PIONEERS. 219 
 
 lutely intolerable ; and she had already determin 
 ed within herself, some half-dozen times, to make 
 an effort, that should at once bring to an issue the 
 delicate point of her domestic condition. But as 
 often as she met the dark, proud eye of Elizabeth, 
 who was walking up and down the apartment, 
 musing on the scenes of her youth, and the change 
 in her condition, and perhaps the events of the 
 day, the housekeeper experienced an awe, that 
 she would not own to herself could be excited by 
 any thing mortal. It, however, checked her ad 
 vances, and for some time held her tongue-tied. 
 At length she determined to commence the dis 
 course, by entering on a subject that was apt to 
 level all human distinctions, and in which she 
 might display her own abilities. 
 
 " It was quite a wordy sarmont that Parson 
 Grant give us to-night," said Remarkable. 
 " Them church ministers be commonly smart sar- 
 monizers ; but they write down their idees, which 
 is a great privilege. I don t think that by nater 
 they are sitch tonguey speakers for an off-hand dis 
 course as the standing-order ministers be." 
 
 " And what denomination do you distinguish as 
 the standing-order ?" inquired Miss Temple, with 
 some surprise. 
 
 "Why, the Presbyter ans, and Congregationals, 
 and Baptists too, for-ti- now; and all sitch as don t 
 go on their knees to prayer." 
 
 " By that rule, then, you would call those who 
 belong to the persuasion of my father, the sitting- 
 order," observed Elizabeth. 
 
 " I m sure I ve never heer n em spoken of by 
 any other name than Quakers, so called," returned 
 Remarkable, betraying a slight uneasiness: "I 
 should be the last one to call them otherwise, for 
 I never in my life used a disparaging tarm of the 
 
220 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 Judge, or any of his family. I ve always set store 
 by the Quakers, they are sitch pretty-spoken, 
 clever people ; and it s a wonderment to me, how 
 your daddy come to marry into a church family, 
 for they are as contrary in religion as can be. One 
 sits still, and, for the most part, says nothing, while 
 the church folks practyse all kinds of ways, so that 
 I sometimes think it quite moosical to see them ; 
 for I went to a church-meeting once before, down 
 country." 
 
 " You have found an excellence in the church 
 liturgy, that has hitherto escaped me," said Miss 
 Temple. " I will thank you to inquire whether 
 the fire in my room burns : I feel fatigued with my 
 day s journey, and will retire." 
 
 Remarkable felt a wonderful inclination to tell 
 the young mistress of the mansion, that by open 
 ing a door she might see for herself; but prudence 
 got the better of her resentment, and after pausing 
 some little time, as a salvo to her dignity, she did 
 as desired. The report was favourable, and the 
 young lady, wishing Benjamin, who was filling the 
 stove with wood, and the housekeeper, each a 
 good night, withdrew. 
 
 The instant that the door closed on Miss Tem 
 ple, Remarkable commenced a sort of mysterious, 
 ambiguous discourse, that was neither abusive nor 
 commendatory of the qualities of the absent per 
 sonage ; but which seemed to be drawing nigh, by 
 regular degrees, to a most dissatisfied description. 
 The Major-domo made no reply, but continued his 
 occupation with great industry, which being hap 
 pily completed, he took a look at the thermome 
 ter, and then, opening a drawer of the sideboard, 
 he produced a supply of stimulants, that would 
 have served to keep the warmth in his sysiern, 
 without the aid of the enormous fire he had been 
 
THE PIONEERS. 
 
 building. A small stand was drawn up near the 
 stove, and the bottles and the glasses necessary 
 for convenience, were quietly arranged. Two 
 chairs were placed by the side of this comfortable 
 situation, when Benjamin, for the first time, ap 
 peared to observe his companion. 
 
 " Come," he cried, " come, Mistress Remarka 
 ble, bring yourself to an anchor in this here chair. 
 It s a peeler without, I can tell you, good woman ; 
 but what cares I ? blow high or blow low, d ye see, 
 it s all the same thing to Ben. The niggers are 
 snug stowed below, before a fire that would roast 
 an ox whole. The thermometer stands now at 
 fifty-five, but if there s any vartue in good maple 
 wood, I ll weather upon it, before one glass, as 
 much as ten points more, so that the Squire, when 
 he comes home from Betty Hollister s warm room, 
 will feel as hot as a hand that has given the rigging 
 a lick with bad tar. Come, Mistress, bring up in 
 this here chair, and tell me how it is you like our 
 new heiress." 
 
 " Why, to my notion, Mr. Penguillum" 
 
 " Pump Pump," interrupted Benjamin ; " it s 
 Christmas-eve, Mistress Remarkable, and so, d ye 
 see, you had better call me Pump. It s a shorter 
 name, and as I mean to pump this here decanter 
 till it sucks, why you may as well call me Pump." 
 
 " Did you ever!" cried Remarkable, with a 
 laugh that seemed to jinhinge every joint in her 
 body. " You re a moosical creater, Benjamin, 
 when the notion takes you. But as I was saying, 
 I rather guess that times will be altered now in this 
 house." 
 
 " Altered !" exclaimed the Major-domo, eyeing 
 the bottle, that was assuming the clear aspect of 
 cut glass with astonishing rapidity ; " it don t mat- 
 19* 
 
222 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 ter much, Mistress Remarkable, so long as I keep 
 the keys of the lockers in my pocket." 
 
 " I can t say," continued the house-keeper, " but 
 there s good eatables and drinkables enough in the 
 house for a body s content a little more sugar, 
 Benjamin, in the glass for Squire Jones is an ex 
 cellent provider. But new lords, new laws ; and 
 I shouldn t wonder, if you and I had an unsartain 
 time on t in footer." 
 
 " Life is as unsartain as the wind that blows," 
 said Benjamin, with a most imposingly moralizing 
 air ; " and nothing is more vari ble than the wind, 
 Mistress Remarkable, unless you happen to fall in 
 with the trades, d ye see, and then you may run 
 for the matter of a month at a time, with studding* 
 sails on both sides alow and aloft, and with the ca 
 bin-boy at the wheel." 
 
 " I know that life is disp ut unsartain," said Re 
 markable, compressing her features to the humour 
 of her companion ; " but I expect there will be 
 great changes made in the house to rights; and 
 that you will find a young man put over your head, 
 as well as there is one that wants to be over mine ; 
 and after having been settled as long as you have, 
 Benjamin, I should judge that to be hard." 
 
 "Promotion should go according to length ol 
 sarvice," said the Major-domo ; " and if-so-be that 
 they ship a hand for my birth, or place a new stew 
 ard aft, I shall throw up my commission in less 
 time than you can put a pilot-boat in stays. Thol 
 Squire Dickens," 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 
 tell the Squire, d ye see, in plain English, and 
 that s my native tongue, that if-so-be he is think 
 ing of putting any Johnny-raw over my head, why 
 
THE PIONEERS. 223 
 
 I shall resign. I began forrard, Mistress Pretty- 
 bones, and worked my way aft, like a man. I was 
 six months aboard a Garnsey lugger, hauling in the 
 slack of the lee-sheet, and coiling up rigging. 
 From that I went a few trips in a fore-and -after, 
 in the same trade, which, after all, was but a blind 
 kind of sailing in the dark, where a man larns but 
 little, excepting how to steer by the stars. Well, 
 then, d ye see, I larnt how a topmast should be 
 slushed, and how a top-gallant-sail was to be beck- 
 etted ; and then I did small jobs in the cabin, such 
 as mixing the skipper s grog. Twas there I got 
 my taste, which, you must have often seen, is ex 
 cellent. Well, here s better acquaintance to us." 
 
 Remarkable nodded a return to the compliment, 
 and took a .sip of the beverage before her ; for, pro 
 vided it was well sweetened, she had no objection 
 to a small potation now and then. After this ob 
 servance of courtesy between the worthy couple, 
 the dialogue proceeded as follows : 
 
 " You have had great experunces in your life, 
 Benjamin ; for, as the scripter says, they that go 
 down to the sea in ships see the works of the 
 Lord. " 
 
 " Ay ! for hat matter, they in brigs and schoo 
 ners too ; and it mought say, the works of the devil. 
 The sea, Mistress Remarkable, is a great advan 
 tage 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, 
 T suppose that, taking the coast from cape Ler- 
 Hogue as low down as Cape Finish- there, there 
 isn t so much as a head-land, or an island, that I 
 don t know either the name of it, or something 
 more or less about it. Take enough, woman, to 
 colour the water. Here s sugar. It s a sweet 
 
224 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 tooth, that fellow that you hold on upon yet, Mis* 
 tress Pretty-bones. 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 ao 
 acquaintance is that Bay of Biscay. Whew ! I 
 wish you could but hear the wind blow there. It 
 sometimes takes two to hold one man s hair on his 
 head. Scudding through the Bay is pretty much 
 the same thing as travelling the roads in this coun 
 try, up one side of a mountain, and down the 
 other." 
 
 " Do tell !" exclaimed Remarkable ; " and does 
 the sea run as high as mountains, Benjamin ?" 
 
 " Well, I will tell ; but first let s taste the grog. 
 Hem ! it s the right kind of stuff, I must say, that 
 you keeps in this country ; but then you re so close 
 aboard the West-Indies, you make but a small run 
 of it. By the lord Harry, woman, if Garnsey only 
 lay somewhere between Cape Hatteras and the 
 Bite of Logann, but you d see rum cheap ! As to 
 the seas, they runs more in lippers 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 seas that you are to look for a swell ; 
 just go off the Western Islands, in a westerly blow, 
 keeping the land on your larboard hand, with the 
 ship s head to the south ard, and bring too, under 
 a close-reef d topsail ; or, mayhap, a reef d fore 
 sail, with a fore-top-mast-staysail ; and mizzen- 
 staysail, to keep her up to the sea, if she will bear 
 it ; and lay there for the matter of two watches, if 
 you want to see mountains. Why, good woman, 
 I ve been off there in the Boadishey frigate, when 
 you could see nothing but some such matter as a 
 piece of sky, mayhap, as big as the mainsail ; and 
 then again, there was a hole under your lee-quar 
 ter, big enough to hold the whole British navy." 
 
THE PIONEERS. 225 
 
 " Oh ! for massy s sake ! and wan t you afeard, 
 Benjamin ? and how did you get off ?" 
 
 " Afeard ! who the devil do you think was to be 
 frightened at a little salt water tumbling about his 
 head ? As for getting off, when we had enough of 
 it, and had washed our decks down pretty well, 
 we called all hands, for, d ye see, the watch below 
 was in their hammocks, all the-same as if they were 
 in one of your best bed-rooms ; and so we watch 
 ed for a smooth time ; clapt her helm hard a-wea- 
 ther, let fall the foresail, and got the tack aboard ; 
 and so, when we got her afore it, I ask you, Mis 
 tress Pretty-bones, if she didn t walk ? didn t she ! 
 I m no liar, good woman, when I say that I saw 
 that ship jump from the top of one sea to another, 
 just like one of these squirrels that can fly jumps 
 from tree to tree." 
 
 " What, clean out of the water !" exclaimed Re 
 markable, lifting her two lank arms, with their bony 
 hands spread in astonishment. 
 
 " It was no such easy matter to get out of the 
 water, good woman ; for the spray flew so that you 
 couldn t tell which was sea and which was cloud. 
 So there we kept her afore it, for the matter of two 
 glasses. The first lieutenant he cun d the ship 
 himself, and there was four quarter-masters at the 
 wheel, besides the master, with six forecastle men 
 in the gun-room, at the relieving tackles. But then 
 she behaved herself so well ! Oh ! she was a sweet 
 ship, mistress ! That one frigate was well worth 
 more, to live in, than the best house in the island. 
 If 1 was king of England, I d have her hauled up 
 above Lon on bridge, and fit her up for a palace ; 
 because why ? if any body can afford to live com 
 fortably, his majesty can." 
 
 " Well ! but Benjamin," cried the listener, who 
 
226 
 
 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 was in an ecstasy of astonishment, at this relation 
 of the steward s dangers, " what did you do ?" 
 
 " Do ! why we did our duty, like good hearty 
 fellows. Now if the countrymen of Mounsheer Ler 
 Quaw had been aboard of her, they would have just 
 struck her ashore on some of them small islands ; 
 but we run along the land, until we found her dead 
 to leeward off the mountains of Pico, and dam me 
 if I know to this day how we got there, whether 
 we jumped over the island, or hauled round it ; 
 but there we was, and there we lay, under easy 
 sail, fore-reaching, first upon one tack and then 
 upon t other, so as to poke her nose out now and 
 hen, and take a look to wind ard, till the gale 
 
 2>w d its pipe out." 
 
 " I wonder now !" exclaimed Remarkable, to 
 whom most of the terms used by Benjamin were 
 perfectly unintelligible, but who had got a confused 
 idea of a raging tempest. " It must be an awful life, 
 that going to sea ! and I don t feel astonishment 
 that you re so affronted with the thoughts of being 
 forced to quit a comfortable home like this. Not 
 that a body cares much for t, as there s more houses 
 than one to live in. Why, when the Judge agreed 
 with me to come and live with him, I d no more 
 notion of stopping any time than any thing. I 
 happened in, just to see how the family did, about 
 a week after Miss Temple died, thinking to be 
 back home agin night ; but the family was in sitch 
 a distressed way, that I couldn t but stop awhile, 
 and help em on. I thought the sitooation 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 have you left your anchors 
 down in the same place, mistress. I think you must 
 find that the ship rides easy ?" 
 
THE PIONEERS. 227 
 
 " How you talk, Benjamin ! there s no believing 
 a word you say. I must say that the Judge and 
 Squire Jones have both acted quite clever, so long ; 
 but I see that now we shall have a specimen to the 
 contrary. I heer n say that the Judge was gone a 
 great broad, and that he meant to bring his darter 
 hum, but I did nt calcoolate on sitch carrins on. 
 To my notion, Benjamin, she s likely to turn out a 
 desput ugly gall." 
 
 " Ugly!" echoed the Major-domo, opening his 
 eyes, that were beginning to close in a very suspi 
 cious sleepiness, in wide amazement. " By the 
 lord Harry, woman, I should as soon think of call 
 ing the Boadishey a clumsy frigate. What the 
 devil would you have ? arn t her eyes as bright as 
 the morning and evening stars ! and isn t her hair 
 as black and glistening as rigging that has just hao 
 a lick of tar ! does nt she move as stately as a first- 
 rate in smooth water, on a bow-line ! Why, wo 
 man, the figure-head of the Boadishey was a fool 
 to her, and that, as I ve often heard the captain 
 say, was an image of a great Queen ; and arn t 
 Queens always comely, woman ? for who do you 
 think would be a King, and not choose a handsome 
 bedfellow ?" 
 
 " Talk decent, Benjamin," said the housekeep 
 er, " or I won t keep your company. I don t gain 
 say her being comely to look on, but I will main 
 tain, that she s likely to show but poor conduct. 
 She seems to think herself too good to talk to a 
 poor body. From what Squire Jones had tell d 
 me, I some expected to be quite captivated by her 
 company. Now, to my reckoning, Lowizy Grant 
 is much more pritty behaved than Betsy Temple. 
 She wouldn t so much as hold discourse with me, 
 when I wanted to ask her how she felt, on coming 
 home and missing her mammy." 
 
228 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 " Perhaps she didn t understand you, woman 
 you are none of the best linguister ; and then Mis3 
 Lizzy has been exercising the King s English un 
 der a great Lon on lady, and, for that matter, can 
 talk the language almost as well as myself, or any 
 native born British subject. You ve forgot your 
 schooling, and the young mistress is a great scol- 
 lard." 
 
 " Mistress !" cried Remarkable ; " don t make 
 
 e out to be a nigger, Benjamin. She s no mis 
 tress of mine, and never will be. And as to speech, 
 I hold myself as second to nobody out of New 
 England. I was born and raised in Essex county ; 
 and I ve always heer n say, that the Bay State was 
 provarbal for pronounsation !" 
 
 " I ve often heard of that Bay of State," said 
 Benjamin, " but can t say that I ve ever been in it, 
 nor do I know exactly where away it is that it lays ; 
 but I suppose that there is good anchorage in it, 
 and that it s no bad place for the taking of ling ; but 
 for size, it can t be so much as a yawl to a sloop 
 of war, compared with the Bay of Biscay, or, may 
 hap, Tor-bay. And as for language, if you want 
 to hear the dictionary overhauled, like a long-line 
 in a blow, you must go to Wapping, and listen to 
 the Lon oners, as they deal out their lingo. How- 
 somever, I see no such mighty matter that Miss 
 Lizzy has been doing to you, good woman, so take 
 another drop of your brew, and forgive and forget, 
 like an honest soul." 
 
 " No, indeed ! and I shan t do sitch a thing, 
 Benjamin. This treatment is a newity to me, and 
 what I won t put up with. I have a hundred and 
 fifty dollars at use, besides abed and twenty sheep, 
 to good ; and I don t crave to live in a house where 
 a body mus nt call a young woman by her given 
 name to her face. I will call her Betsy as much 
 
THE PIONEERS. 229 
 
 as I please ; it s a free country, and no one can stop 
 me. I did intend to stop while summer, but I shall 
 quit to-morrow morning ; and I will talk just as I 
 please." 
 
 " For that matter, Mistress Remarkable," said 
 Benjamin, " there s none here who will contradict 
 you, for I m* of opinion that it would be as easy to 
 stop a hurricane with a Barcelony hankerchy, as to 
 bring up your tongue, when the stopper is off. I 
 say, good woman, do they grow many monkeys 
 along the shores of that Bay of State ?" 
 
 " You re a monkey yourself, Mr. Penguillum," 
 cried the enraged housekeeper, " or a bear ! a 
 black, beastly bear ! and an t fit for a decent wo 
 man to stay with. I ll never keep your company 
 agin, sir, if I should live thirty years with the 
 Judge. Sitch talk is more befitting the kitchen 
 than the keeping-room of a house of one who is 
 well to do in the world." 
 
 " Look you, Mistress Pitty Patty Pretty- 
 bones, mayhap Pm some such matter as a bear, 
 d ye see, as they will find who come to grapple 
 with me ; but dam me if Pm a monkey a thing 
 that chatters without knowing a word of what it 
 says a parrot ; that will hold a dialogue, for what 
 an honest man knows, in a dozen languages ; may 
 hap 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 ? Youi 
 Midshipman can sing out, and pass the word, when 
 the Captain gives the order, but just set him adrift 
 by himself, and let him work the ship of his own 
 head, and, stop my grog, if you don t find all the 
 Johny-raws laughing at him." 
 
 " Stop your grog, indeed !" said Remarkable, 
 rising with groat indignation, and seizing a candle , 
 20 
 
230 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 " you re groggy now, Benjamin, and I ll quit the 
 room before I hear any of your misbecoming words 
 from you." 
 
 The housekeeper retired, with a manner but lit 
 tle less dignified, as she thought, than the air of 
 the stately heiress, muttering, as she drew the door 
 after her, with a noise like the report of a musket, 
 the opprobrious terms of " drunkard," " sot," and 
 "beast." 
 
 " Who s that you say is drunk ?" cried Benja 
 min, fiercely, rising and making a movement to 
 wards Remarkable. " You talk of mustering your 
 self with a lady ! you re just fit to grumble and find 
 fault. Where the devil should you larn behaviour 
 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 re 
 sembled, not a little, the growling of his favourite 
 animal, the bear itself. Before, however, he was 
 quite locked, to use the language that would suit 
 the Della-cruscan humour of certain refined critics 
 of the present day, " in the arms of Morpheus," 
 he spoke aloud, observing due pauses between his 
 epithets, the impressive terms of " monkey," "par 
 rot," "pic-nic," " tar-pot," and " linguisters." 
 
 We will not attempt to explain his meaning, nor 
 connect his sentences, and our readers must be sa 
 tisfied 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 mon 
 key. 
 
 Nearly two hours passed in this sleep, before 
 the Major-domo was awakened by the noisy en 
 trance of Richard, Major Hartmann, and the mas 
 ter of the mansion. Benjamin so far rallied his 
 
THE PIONEERS. .231 
 
 *ocfused faculties, as to shape the course of the 
 two former to their respective apartments, when 
 he disappeared himself, leaving the task of secur 
 ing the house to him who was most interested iu 
 its safety. Locks and bars were but little attend 
 ed to in the early day of that settlement ; and so 
 soon as Marmaduke had given an eye to the enor 
 mous fires of his dwelling, he retired. And with 
 this act of prudence closes the first night of our 
 tale. 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 " Watch. (o.t(<Ze) Soms treason, masters 
 
 Yet stand close." 
 
 Much ado about nothing 
 
 IT was fortunate for more than one of the bac 
 chanalians, 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. Thin, 
 driving clouds began, towards morning, to flit across 
 the heavens, and the moon sat behind a volume of 
 vapour, that was impelled furiously towards 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 Eliza 
 beth, 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, be 
 fore the tardy revellers of the Christmas-eve 
 should make their appearance at the breakfast-ta 
 ble. While she was drawing the folds of her pe- 
 
THE PIONEERS. 233 
 
 lisse more closely around her form, to guard against 
 a cold that was yet great, though rapidly yielding, 
 in the small enclosure that opened in the rear of the 
 house on a little thicket of low pines, that were 
 springing up where trees of a mightier giowth had 
 lately^ stood, she w T as surprised at the voice of Mr. 
 Jones, crying aloud 
 
 " Merry Christmas, merry Christmas to you, 
 cousin Bess. Ah, ha ! an early riser, I see ; but I 
 knew I should steal a march on you. I never was 
 in a house yet, where I didn t get the first Christ 
 mas greeting on every soul in it, man, woman, and 
 child ; great and small ; black, white, and yellow. 
 But stop a minute, till I can just slip on my coat ; 
 you are about to look at the improvements, I see, 
 which no one can explain so well as I, who planned 
 them all. It will be an hour before duke and the 
 Major can sleep off Mrs. Hollister s confounded 
 distillations, and so I ll come down and go with 
 you." 
 
 Elizabeth turned, and observed her cousin in 
 his night-cap, with his head out of his bed -room 
 window, where his zeal for pre-eminence, in defi 
 ance of the weather, had impelled him to thrust 
 it. She laughed, and promising to wait for his 
 company, she re-entered the house, making her 
 appearance again, holding in her hand a packet 
 that was secured by several large and important 
 seals, just in time to meet the gentleman. 
 
 " Come, Bessy, come," he cried, drawing one 
 of her arms through his own ; " the snow begins 
 to give, but it will bear us yet. Don t you snuff 
 old Pennsylvania in the very air ? This is a vile 
 climate, girl ; now at sunset, last evening, it was 
 cold enough to freeze a man s zeal, and that, T can 
 tell you, takes a thermometer near zero for me ; 
 then about nine or ten it began to moderate ; at 
 20 * 
 
234 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 twelve it was quite mild, and here all the rest of 
 the night I have been so hot as not to bear a blan 
 ket on the bed. Holla! Aggy, merry Christ 
 mas, Aggy I say, do you hear me, you black dog 
 there s a dollar for you ; and if the gentlemen get 
 up before I come back, do you come out and let 
 me know. I wouldn t have duke get the start of 
 me for the worth of your head." 
 
 The black caught the money from the snow, and 
 promising a due degree of watchfulness, he gave 
 the dollar a whirl in the air of twenty feet, 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 like 
 ly to sleep an hour ; and by using due vigilance 
 you will secure all the honours 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 ri*b such 
 things, except in the way of competition ; for a 
 thing, which is of no moment in itself, may be made 
 of importance in the way of competition. So it 
 is with your father he loves to be first ; but I only 
 struggle with him as a competitor, like." 
 
 " Oh ! it s all very clear, sir," said Elizabeth ; 
 " you would not care a fig for distinction, if there 
 were no one in the world but yourself; but as 
 there happen to be a great many others, why, you 
 must struggle with them all in the way of com 
 petition." 
 
 " 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 
 
THE PIONEERS. 235 
 
 letter for advice to a judicious friend in the city, 
 who recommended the very school you went to. 
 Duke was a little obstinate at first, as usual, but 
 when he heard the truth, he was obliged to send 
 you." 
 
 " Well, a truce to duke s foibles, sir ; he is my 
 father ; and if you knew what he has been doing 
 for you while we were in Albany, you would deal 
 more tenderly with his character." 
 
 " For" me !" cried Richard, pausing a moment 
 * in his walk to reflect. " Oh ! he got the plans of 
 the new Dutch meeting-house for me, I suppose ; 
 but I care very little about it, for a man, of a cer 
 tain kind of talent, is seldom aided by any such 
 foreign suggestions: his own brain is the best ar 
 chitect." 
 
 " No such thing," said Elizabeth, looking pro- 
 vokingly knowing. 
 
 " No ! let me see perhaps he had my name 
 put in the bill for the new turnpike, as a director ?" 
 
 " He might possibly ; but it is not to such an 
 appointment that I allude." 
 
 " Such an appointment !" repeated Mr. Jones, 
 who began to fidget with curiosity ; " then, it is 
 an appointment. If it is in the militia, I won t 
 take it." 
 
 " No, no, it is not in the militia," cried Eliza 
 beth, showing the packet in her hand, and then 
 drawing it back, with a coquettish air ; " it is an 
 office of both honour and emolument." 
 
 "Honour and emolument !" echoed Richard, in 
 painful suspense ; " show me the paper, girl. Say, 
 is it an office where there is any thing to do ?" 
 
 " You have hit it, cousin Dickon ; it is the ex 
 ecutive 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 any thing will 
 
236 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 please Dickon, he said, it will be to fill the ex 
 ecutive chair of the county. " 
 
 " Executive chair ! what nonsense !" cried the 
 impatient gentleman, snatching the packet from hei 
 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 
 Muke has a warm heart, and never forgets his 
 
 friends. Sheriff! High Sheriff of ! It sounds 
 
 well, Bess, but it shall execute better. Duke is 
 a judicious man, after all, and knows human nature 
 thoroughly. I m much obliged to him," continued 
 Richard, using the skirt of his coat, unconsciously, 
 to wipe his eyes ; " though I would do as much for 
 him any day, as he shall see, if I have an oppor 
 tunity 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 
 my 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 every thing remained to 
 be done." 
 
 " Do !" echoed Richard, who blew his nose, 
 raised his little form to its greatest elevation, and 
 looked prodigiously serious. " Every thing de 
 pends on system, my girl. I shall sit down this 
 afternoon, and systematize the county. I must 
 have deputies, you know. I will divide the coun 
 ty into districts, over which I will place my depu 
 ties ; and I will have one for the village, which I 
 will call my home department. Let me see 
 oh ! Benjamin ! yes, Benjamin will make a good 
 deputy ; he has been naturalized, and would an- 
 
THE PIONEERS. 237 
 
 Bwer admirably, if he could only ride on horse 
 back." 
 
 " Yes, Mr. Sheriff," said his companion, C<L: and 
 as he understands ropes so well, he would be very 
 expert, should occasion happen for his services, in 
 the way of Jack Ketch." 
 
 " No," interrupted the other, " I flatter myself 
 
 that no one could hang a man better than that 
 
 is ha oh ! yes, Benjamin would do extremely 
 well, in such an unfortunate dilemma, if he could 
 be persuaded to attempt it. But I should despair 
 of the thing. I never could induce him to hang, 
 or teach him to ride on horseback. I must seek 
 another deputy." 
 
 " Well, sir, as you have abundant leisure for 
 all these important affairs, I beg that you will for 
 get 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 every where. 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 li 
 beral-hearted fellow, with all his stubbornness. 
 Yes, yes, I must have at least four deputies, be 
 sides a jailer." 
 
 " I see no streets in the direction of our walk," 
 said Elizabeth, " unless you call the short ave 
 nues 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, any thing but posterity. Such is the will of 
 your father, and your father, you know" 
 
238 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 " Had you made Sheriff, Mr. Jones," interrupt 
 ed the lady, with a tone which said very plainly to 
 the gentleman, that he was touching a forbidden 
 subject. 
 
 " I know it, I know it," cried Richard ; " and 
 if it were in my power, I d make duke a king. 
 He is a noble-hearted fellow, and would make an 
 excellent king ; that is, if he had a good prime mi 
 nister. But who have we here ? voices in the 
 bushes ; a combination about mischief, I ll wager 
 my commission. Let us draw near, and examine 
 a little into the matter." 
 
 During this dialogue, as the parties had kept in 
 motion, Richard and his cousin advanced some dis 
 tance 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 their branches concealed their per 
 sons. 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 man 
 ner, and seemed to think the subject of deep im 
 portance, 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 for 
 ward, so as to conceal most of his features, and 
 
THE PIONEERS. 239 
 
 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 impa 
 tiently, 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 any thing se 
 cretly. Poor fellow ! he was quite boozy last 
 night, and hardly seems to be over it yet. Let us 
 draw nigher, and hear what they say." 
 
 Notwithstanding the lady s reluctance, Richard, 
 stimulated doubtless by his nice sense of duty, pre 
 vailed ; and they were soon so near as distinctly to 
 hear sounds. 
 
 " The bird must be had," said Natty, " by fair 
 means or foul. Heigho ! I ve known the time, lad, 
 when the wild turkeys wasn t over scarce in the 
 country ; though you must go into the Virginy 
 gaps, if you want them for the feathers. To be 
 sure, there is a different taste to a partridge, and a 
 well-fattened turkey ; though, to my eating, bea 
 ver s tail and bear s hams makes 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 somehow, my hand shakes so, whenever 
 I have to do any thing extrawnary, that I often lose 
 my aim. N0w, when I killed the she-bear this fall. 
 
240 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 with her cubs, though they were so mighty raven 
 ous, I knocked them over one at a shot, and loaded 
 while I dodged the trees in the bargain; but this is 
 a very different thing, Mr. Oliver." 
 
 " This," cried the young man with an accent 
 that sounded as if he took a bitter pleasure in his 
 poverty, while he held a shilling up before his eyes 
 " this is all the treasure that I possess this and 
 my rifle ! Now, indeed, I have become a man of 
 the woods, and must place my sole dependence on 
 the chase. Come, Natty, let us stake the last 
 penny for the bird ; with your aim, it cannot fail to 
 be successful." 
 
 " I would rather it should be John, lad; my heart 
 jumps into my mouth, because you set your mind 
 so much on t ; and Pm sartain that I shall miss the 
 bird. Them Indians can shoot one time as well as 
 another ; nothing ever troubles them. I say, John, 
 here s a shilling ; take my rifle, and get a shot at 
 the big turkey they ve put up at the stump. Mr. 
 Oliver is over anxious for the creater, and I m sure 
 to do nothing when I have over anxiety about it." 
 
 The Indian turned his head gloomily, and, after 
 looking keenly for a moment, in profound silence, 
 at his companions, he replied 
 
 " When John was young, eyesight was not 
 straighter than his bullet. The Mingo squaws 
 cried out at the sound of his rifle. The Mingo 
 warriors were made squaws. When did he ever 
 shoot twice ! The eagle went above the clouds, 
 when he passed the wigwam of Chingachgook; his 
 feathers were plenty with the women. But see," 
 he said, raising his voice, from the low, mournful 
 tones in which he had spoken, to a pitch of keen 
 excitement, and stretching forth both hands " they 
 shake like a deer at the wolf s howl. Is John old ? 
 When was a Mohican a squaw, with seventy win- 
 
THE PIONEERS. 241 
 
 ters ! No ! the white man brings old age with 
 him rum is his tomahawk !" 
 
 " Why then do you use it, old man?" exclaimed 
 the young hunter ; " why will one, so noble by na 
 ture, aid the devices of the devil, by making him 
 self 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-sfire, and what they said 
 was done. Then John was a man. But warriors 
 and traders with light eyes followed them. One 
 brought the long knife, and one brought rum. 
 They were more than the pines on the mountains ; 
 and they broke up the councils, and took the lands. 
 The evil spirit was in their jugs, and they let him 
 loose. Yes, yes you say no lie, Young Eagle ; 
 John is a beast." 
 
 " Forgive me, old warrior," cried the youth, 
 grasping his hand ; " I should be the last to reproach 
 you. The curses of heaven light on the cupidity 
 that has destroyed such a race. Remember, John, 
 that I am of your family, and it is now my greatest 
 pride." 
 
 The muscles of Mohegan relaxed a little, and he 
 said more mildly 
 
 " You are a Delaware, my son ; your words are 
 not heard. John cannot shoot." 
 
 " I thought that lad had Indian blood in him," 
 whispered Richard, " by the awkward way he han- 
 21 
 
242 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 died my horses last night. You see, coz, they 
 never use harness. But the poor fellow shall have 
 two shots at the turkey, if he wants it, for I ll give 
 him another shilling myself; though, perhaps, I 
 had better offer to shoot for him. They have got 
 up their Christmas sports, I find, in the bushes 
 yonder, where you hear the laughter ; though it 
 is a queer taste this chap has for turkey ; not but 
 what it is good eating too." 
 
 " Hold, cousin Richard," exclaimed Elizabeth, 
 clinging to his arm, " would it be delicate to offer 
 a shilling to that gentleman ?" 
 
 " Gentleman again ! do you think a half-breed, 
 like him, will refuse money ? No, no, girl ; he will 
 take the shilling ; ay ! and even rum too, notwith 
 standing he moralizes so much about it. But I ll 
 give the lad a chance for his turkey, for that Billy 
 Kirby is one of the best marksmen in the country ; 
 that is, if we except the the gentleman." 
 
 " Then," said Elizabeth, who found her strength 
 unequal to her will, " then, sir, I will speak." 
 She advanced, with an air of proud 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 towards retiring, but, 
 recollecting himself, bowed, by lifting his cap, and 
 resumed his attitude of leaning on his rifle. Nei 
 ther 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. Whith 
 of you will take this money, and, after paying my 
 foe, give me the aid of his rifle?" 
 
 " Is this a sport for a lady !" exclaimed the 
 
THE PIONEERS 
 
 young hunter, with an emphasis that could not 
 well be mistaken, and with a rapidity that show 
 ed he spoke without consulting any thing but 
 feeling. 
 
 " Why not, sir ?" returned the maiden. " If it 
 be inhuman, the sin is not confined to one sex only. 
 But I have my humour as well as others. I ask 
 not your assistance, sir ; but" turning to Natty, 
 and dropping a dollar in his hand " this old vete 
 ran of the forest will not be so ungallant, as to re 
 fuse 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 shoul 
 der, and said 
 
 " If Billy Kirby don t get the bird before me, 
 and the Frenchman s powder don t hang fire this 
 damp morning, you ll see as fine a turkey dead, 
 in a few minutes, as ever was eaten in the Judge s 
 shanty. I have know d the Dutch women, on the 
 Mohawk and Scoharie, count greatly on coming to 
 them merry-makings ; and so, lad, you shouldn t 
 be short with the lady. Come, let us go forward, 
 for if we wait, the finest bird will be gone." 
 
 " But I have a right before you, Natty, and 
 shall try 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 any thing 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 ad 
 dress of the young and beauteous maiden, who 
 
244 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 had so singularly intrusted him with such a com 
 mission, returned the bright smile with which she 
 had addressed him, by his own peculiar mark of 
 mirth, and moved across the snow, towards the 
 spot whence the sounds of boisterous mirth pro 
 ceeded, with the long strides of a hunter. His 
 companions followed in silence, the youth casting 
 frequent and uneasy glances towards 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 Lea 
 ther-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 giv 
 ing them brick-bats with " 
 
 " Enough, cousin Dickon," interrupted the la 
 dy ; "I do wish the bird, and it is because I so 
 wish, that I commissioned this Mr. Leather-stock 
 ing." 
 
 " Did you ever hear of the great shot that I 
 made at the wolf, cousin Elizabeth, who was car 
 rying off your father s sheep ?" said Richard, draw 
 ing himself up into an air of displeasure. " He 
 had the sheep on his back ; and had the head of 
 the wolf been on the other side, I should have kill 
 ed him dead ; as it was" 
 
 " You killed the sheep," again interrupted the 
 young lady " T know it all, my dear coz. But 
 would it have been decorous, for the High Sheriff 
 of to mingle in such sports as these ?" 
 
 " Surely you did not think I intended actually 
 to fire with my own hands ?" said Mr. Jones. - 
 " But let us follow, and see the shooting. There 
 
THE PIONEERS. 245 
 
 is no fear of any thing unpleasant occurring to any 
 female in this new country, especially to your 
 father s daughter, and in my presence." 
 
 " My father s daughter fears nothing, sir," re 
 turned Elizabeth; "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. 
 
 31* 
 
CHAPTER XVII 
 
 w I guess, by all this quaint array, 
 The b irghers hold their sports to day. 
 
 Scott. 
 
 THE ancient amusement of shooting the Christ 
 mas turkey, is one of the few sports that the set 
 tlers 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 
 sithe to seize the rifle, as the deer glided through 
 the forests they were felling, or the bear entered 
 their rough meadows to scent the air of a clearing, 
 and to scan, with a look of sagacity, the progress 
 of the invader. 
 
 On the present occasion, the usual amusement 
 of the day had been a little hastened, in order to 
 allow a fair opportunity to Mr. Grant, whose exhi 
 bition was not less a treat to the young sportsmen, 
 than the one which engaged their present atten 
 tion. The owner of the birds was a free black, 
 who had been preparing for the occasion a collec 
 tion of game, that was admirably qualified to in 
 flame the appetite of an epicure, and was well 
 adapted to the means and skill of the different com 
 petitors, who were of all ages. He had offered to 
 the younger and more humble marksmen divers 
 birds of an inferior quality, and some shooting had 
 
THE PIONEERS. 247 
 
 already taken place, much to the pecuniary advan 
 tage of the sable owner of the game. The order 
 of the sports was extremely simple, and well un 
 derstood. The bird was fastened by a string of 
 tow, to the base of the stump of a large pine, the 
 side of which, towards the point where the marks 
 men 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 as 
 certained. The distance between the stump and 
 this point 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 adven 
 turer who might offer. 
 
 The throng consisted of some twenty or thirty 
 young men, most of whom had rifles, and a collec 
 tion of all the boys in the village. The little ur 
 chins, clad in coarse but warm garments, stood 
 gathered around the more distinguished marksmen, 
 with their hands stuck under their waistbands, lis 
 tening eagerly to the boastful stories of the skill 
 that had been exhibited on former occasions, and 
 were already emulating in their hearts these won 
 derful 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 labour, was that of 
 clearing lands, or chopping jobs, was of great sta 
 ture, and carried, in his very air, the index of his 
 character. He was a noisy, boisterous, reckless 
 lad, whose good-natured eye contradicted the blunt- 
 ness and bullying tenor of his speech. For weeks 
 he would lounge around the taverns of the county, 
 
248 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 in a state of perfect idleness, or doing small jobs 
 for his liquor and his meals, and cavilling with ap 
 plicants about the prices of his labour : frequently 
 preferring idleness to an abatement of a tittle of 
 his independence, or a cent in his wages. But 
 when these embarrassing points were once satisfac 
 torily 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 de 
 liberation, to the centre of his premises, and, 
 throwing aside his superfluous garments, he would 
 measure, with a knowing eye, one or two of the 
 nearest trees, that were towering apparently into the 
 very clouds, as he gazed upwards. Commonly se 
 lecting 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, 
 that 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 thrashing and tear 
 ing 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 would be cease 
 less, while the falling of the trees was like a dis 
 tant cannonading ; and the daylight broke into the 
 
THE PIONEERS. 
 
 depths of the woods with almost the suddenness 
 of a winter morning. 
 
 For days, weeks, nay, months, Billy Kirby would 
 toil, with an ardour that evinced his native spirit, 
 and with an effect that seemed magical, until, his 
 chopping being ended, his stentorian lungs could 
 oe heard emitting sounds, as he called to his patient 
 oxen, the assistants in his labour, which rung 
 through the hills like the cries of an alarm. He 
 had been: often heard, on a mild summer s 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 despatch that could only 
 accompany his dexterity and Herculean strength, 
 the jobber would collect together his implements 
 of labour, light the heaps of timber, and march 
 away, under the blaze of the prostrate forest, like 
 the conqueror of some city, who, having first pre 
 vailed over his adversary, places the final torch of 
 destruction, 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 unfrequently 
 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 
 their respective skill in shooting. Notwithstand 
 ing the long practice of Natty, it was commonlj 
 supposed that the steady nerves and quick eye of 
 the wood-chopper rendered him his equal. Theii 
 competition had, however, been confined hitherto 
 to boastings, and comparisons made from their suc 
 cesses in their various hunting excursions ; but this 
 was the first time that they had ever come in open 
 
250 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 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 compa 
 nions 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. The turkey was 
 already fastened at the " mark," but its body was 
 entirely hid by the surrounding snow, nothing being 
 visible but its red swelling head, and long proud 
 neck. If the bird was injured by any bullet that 
 struck below the snow, it was still 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 from the 
 mouth of the negro, who was seated in the snow, 
 in a somewhat hazardous vicinity to his favourite 
 bird, as Elizabeth and her cousin, the newly ap 
 pointed executive chief of the county, approached 
 the noisy sportsmen. The sounds of mirth and 
 contention sensibly lowered at this unexpected 
 visit; but, after a moment s pause, the curious 
 interest exhibited in the face of the young lady, 
 together with her smiling air, restored the freedom 
 of the morning ; though it was somewhat chastened, 
 both in language and vehemence, by the presence 
 of such a spectator to their proceedings. 
 
 " 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, 
 you may say good-by to that turkey." 
 
 " Stop !" cried the young hunter ; " I am a can 
 didate for a chance too. Here is my shilling, Brom ; 
 I wish a shot too." 
 
THE PIONEERS. 251 
 
 " You may wish it in welcome," cried Kirby, 
 " but if I ruffle the gobbler s feathers, how are you 
 to get it ? Is money so plenty in your deer-skin 
 pocket, that you pay for a chance that you may 
 never have ?" 
 
 " How know you, sir, how plenty money is in 
 my pocket ?" said the youth, fiercely. " Here is 
 my shilling, Brom, and I claim a right to shoot." 
 
 " Don t be crabbed, my boy," said the other, 
 who was very coolly fixing his flint. " They say 
 you have a hole in your left shoulder, yourself : so 
 I think Brom may give you a fire for half price. 
 It will take a keen one to hit that bird, I can tell 
 you, my lad, even if I give you a chance, which is 
 a thing I have no mind to do." 
 
 " Don t be boasting, Billy Kirby," said Natty, 
 throwing the breech of his rifle into the snow, and 
 leaning on its barrel ; " you ll get but one shot at 
 the creater, for if the lad misses his aim, which 
 wouldn t be a wonder if he did, with his arm so 
 stiff and sore, you ll find a good piece and an old 
 eye coming a ter you. Maybe it s true that I can t 
 shoot as I used to could, but a hundred yards is but 
 a short distance for a long rifle." 
 
 " What, old Leather-stocking, are you out this 
 morning," cried his reckless opponent. " Well, 
 fair play s a jewel. But I ve the lead of you, old 
 fellow ; so here goes, for a dry throat or a good 
 dinner-" 
 
 The countenance of the negro evinced not only 
 all the interest which his pecuniary adventure 
 might occasion, but also the keen excitement that 
 the sport produced in the others, though with a 
 very different wish as to the result. While the 
 wood-chopper was slowly and steadily raising his 
 rifle, he exclaimed 
 
 " Fair play, Billy Kirby stand back make em 
 
252 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 stand back, boys gib a nigger fair play poss-up- 
 gobbler ; shake a head, fool ; don t a see em pokin 
 gun at em ?" 
 
 These cries, which were intended as much to 
 distract the attention of the marksman, as for any 
 thing else, were, however, fruitless. The nerves 
 of the wood-chopper were not so easily shaken, 
 and he took his aim with the utmost deliberation. 
 The dead stillness of expectation 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 it 
 self 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 with the 
 excess of his delight. 
 
 " Well done a gobbler," he cried, jumping up, 
 and affecting to embrace his bird ; " I tell em to 
 poss-up, and you see em dodge. Gib anoder shil- 
 lin, Billy, and hab anoder shot." 
 
 " No the shot is mine," said the young hunter j 
 " you have my money already. Leave the mark, 
 and let me try my luck." 
 
 " Ah ! it s but money thrown away, lad," said 
 Leather-stocking. " A turkey s head and neck is 
 but a small mark for a new hand and a lame shoul 
 der. You d best let me take the fire, and maybe 
 we can make some sittlement with the lady about 
 the bird." 
 
 " The chance is mine," said the young hunter. 
 " Clear the ground, that I may take it." 
 
 The discussions and disputes concerning the last 
 shot were now abating, it having been determined, 
 that if the turkey s head had been any where but 
 
THE PIONEERS. 253 
 
 just where it was at the 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 wownds are apt to weak 
 en the flesh, and, to my judgment, you ll not shoot 
 so well as in common. If you will fire, you should 
 shoot quick, before there is time to shake off the 
 aim." 
 
 " Fair play," again shouted the negro ; " fair 
 play gib a nigger fair play. What right a Nat- 
 Bumppo tell a young man ? Let em shoot clear 
 a ground." 
 
 The youth fired with great rapidity ; but no mo 
 tion was made by the turkey ; and when the exa 
 miners for the ball returned from the " mark," they 
 declared that he had missed the stump. 
 
 Elizabeth observed the change in his counte 
 nance, and could not help feeling surprise, that one 
 so evidently superior to his companions, should 
 feel a trifling loss so sensibly. But her own cham 
 pion was now preparing to enter the lists. 
 
 The mirth of Brom, which had been again ex 
 cited, though in a much smaller degree than be 
 fore, by the failure of the second adventurer, va 
 nished, the instant that Natty took his stand. His 
 skin became mottled with large brown spots, that 
 sullied the lustre of his native ebony most fearfully, 
 while his enormous lips gradually compressed 
 around the 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 fea 
 tures of his face, dilated, until they covered the 
 22 
 
254 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 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 
 Scoharie," said Natty, carefully removing the 
 leather guard from the lock of his rifle, "jist be 
 fore the breaking out of the last war, and there 
 was a shooting-match among the boys ; so I took 
 a hand in it myself. I think I opened a good many 
 Dutch eyes that very day, for I won the powder- 
 horn, three bars of lead, and a pound of as good 
 powder as ever flashed in the pan of a gun. Lord ! 
 how they did swear in Garman ! They did tell 
 of one drunken Dutchman, who said he d have 
 the life of me, before I got back to the lake ag in, 
 But if he had put his rifle to his shoulder with 
 evil intent, God would have punished him for it ; 
 and even if the Lord didn t, and he had missed his 
 aim, I know one that would have given him as 
 good as he sent, and better too, if good shooting 
 could come into the count." 
 
 By this time . the old hunter was ready for his 
 business, and throwing his right leg far behind him, 
 and stretching his left arm along the barrel of his 
 piece, he raised it towards the bird. Every eye 
 glanced rapidly from the marksman 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 only. 
 
THE PIONEERS. 255 
 
 "A snap a snap," shouted the negro, springing 
 from his crouching posture, like a madman, before 
 his bird. " A snap as good as a fire Natty Buinp- 
 po gun he snap Natty Bumppo miss a turkey." 
 
 " Natty Bumppo hit a nigger," said the indig 
 nant old hunter, " if you don t get out of the way, 
 Brom. It s contrary to the reason of the thing, 
 boy, that a snap should count for a fire, when one 
 is nothing more than a fire-stone striking a steel 
 pan, and the other is good lead, ay ! and with a 
 good aim ; so get out of my way, boy, and let me 
 show Billy Kirby how to shoot a Christmas tur 
 key." 
 
 " Gib a nigger fair play !" cried the black, who 
 continued resolutely to maintain his post. " Eb- 
 bery body know dat snap as good as fire. Leab it 
 to Massa Jone leab it to lady." 
 
 " Sartain," said the wood-chopper ; " it s the 
 law of the game in this part of the country, Lea 
 ther-stocking. If you fire ag in, you must pay up 
 the other shilling. I b lieve I ll try luck once more 
 myself; so, Brom, here s my money, and I take 
 the next fire." 
 
 " It s likely you know the laws of the woods 
 better than I do, Billy Kirby !" returned Natty. 
 " You come in with the settlers, with an ox goad 
 in your hand, and I come in with moccasins on my 
 feet, and with a good rifle on my shoulder, so long 
 back as afore the old war. Which is likely to know 
 the best ? I say, no man need tell me that snap 
 ping is as good as firing, when I pull the trigger." 
 
 " Leab it to Massa Jone," said the alarmed ne 
 gro ; " he know ebbery ting." 
 
 This appeal to the knowledge of Richard was 
 too flattering to be unheeded. He therefore ad 
 vanced a little from the spot whither the delicacy 
 of Elizabeth had induced her to withdraw, and 
 
256 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 gave the following opinion, with all the gravity 
 that the subject and his own rank demanded : 
 
 cc There seems to be a difference in opinion," 
 he said, " on the subject of Nathaniel Bumppo s 
 right to shoot at Abraham Freeborn s turkey, with 
 out the said Nathaniel paying one shilling for the 
 privilege." This fact was too self-evident to be 
 denied, and, after pausing a moment, that the audi 
 ence might digest his premises, Richard proceed 
 ed : " 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 unreason 
 able to say, that a man may stand snapping at that 
 turkey all day. I therefore am of opinion, thai 
 Nathaniel Bumppo has lost his chance, and mus< 
 pay another shilling before he renews his right. 
 
 As this opinion came from such a high quarter 
 and was delivered with so much effect, it silencec 
 all murmurs, for the whole of the spectators hau 
 begun to take sides with great warmth, excep 
 from the Leather-stocking himself. 
 
 " I think Miss Elizabeth s thoughts should bt 
 taken," said Natty. " I ve known the squaws givn 
 very good counsel, when the Indians have been 
 dumb foundered in their notions. 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 re* 
 
THE PIONEERS. 257 
 
 new 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 relish- 1 
 ed by any of the listeners, even the negro feeling 
 unwilling to lose the sport, though he lost his tur 
 key. In the mean while, as Billy Kirby was prepar 
 ing himself for another shot, Natty left the goal, 
 with an extremely dissatisfied manner, muttering 
 to himself, and speaking aloud 
 
 " There hasn t been such a thing as a good flint 
 sold at the foot of the lake, since the time when 
 the Indian traders used to come into the country ; 
 and if a body should go into the flats along the 
 streams in the hills, to hunt for such a thing, it s 
 ten to one but they will be all covered up with 
 the plough. Heigho ! it seems to me, that just 
 as the game grows scarce, and a body wants the 
 best of ammunition, to get a livelihood, every 
 thing that s bad falls on him, like a judgment. But 
 I ll change the stone, for Billy Kirby hasn t the 
 eye for such a mark, I know." 
 
 The wood chopper seemed now entirely sensi 
 ble that his reputation in a great measure depend 
 ed on his care ; nor did he neglect any means to 
 ensure his success. He drew up his rifle, and re 
 newed his aim, again and again, still appearing re 
 luctant 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 rung through the bushes, and sounded among 
 the trees of the neighbouring forest, like the out 
 cries of a tribe of Indians. He laughed, rolling his 
 head, first on one side, then on the other, until na 
 ture seemed exhausted with mirth. He danced, 
 until his legs were wearied with motion, in the 
 22* 
 
258 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 snow ; and, in short, he exhibited all that violence 
 of joy that characterizes the mirth of a thoughtless 
 negro. 
 
 The wood-chopper had exerted his art, and felt 
 a proportionate degree of disappointment at his 
 failure. He first examined the bird with the ut 
 most attention, and more than once suggested that 
 he had touched its feathers ; but the voice of the 
 multitude was against him, for it felt disposed to 
 listen to the often-repeated cries of the black, to 
 " gib a nigger fair play." 
 
 Finding it impossible to make out a title to the 
 bird, Kirby turned fiercely to the black, and said 
 
 " Shut your oven, you crow ! Where is the man 
 that can hit a turkey s head at a hundred yards ? 
 I was a fool for trying. You needn t make an up 
 roar, like a falling pine-tree, about it. Show me 
 the man who can do it." 
 
 " Look this a- way, Billy Kirby," said Leather- 
 stocking, " and let them clear the mark, and I ll 
 *how you a man who s made better shots afore 
 now, and that when he s been hard pressed by the 
 savages and wild beasts." 
 
 " Perhaps there is one whose rights come before 
 ours, Leather-stocking," said Miss Temple ; " if 
 so, we will waive our privilege." 
 
 " If it be me that you have reference to, madam," 
 said the young hunter, u I shall decline another 
 chance. My shoulder is yet weak, I find." 
 
 Elizabeth regarded his proud, but forced man 
 ner, and even thought that she could discern a 
 tinge on his cheek, that spoke the shame of con 
 scious 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 
 
THE PIONEERS. 259 
 
 excel. He raised his piece three several times ; 
 once to get his range ; once to calculate his dis 
 tance ; and once because the bird, alarmed by the 
 deathlike stillness that prevailed, turned its head 
 quickly, to examine its foes. But the fourth time 
 he fired. The smoke, the report, and the momen 
 tary 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 creater," said Leather-stocking, 
 " and put it at the feet of the lady. I was her de 
 puty in the matter, and the bird is her property." 
 
 "And a good deputy you have proved your 
 self," returned Elizabeth " so good, cousin Ri 
 chard, that I would advise you to remember his 
 qualities." She paused, and the gayety that beam 
 ed on her face gave place to a more serious ear 
 nestness. She even blushed a little as she turned 
 to the young hunter, and, with the insinuating 
 charm of a woman s best 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 exquisite blandishment of her air, in 
 opposition to a strong inward impulse to the con 
 trary. He bowed, and raised the victim silently 
 from her feet, but continued silent. 
 
 Elisabeth handed the black a piece of silver as 
 
260 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 a remuneration for his loss, which had some effect 
 m again unbending his muscles, and then express 
 ed to her companion her readiness to return home 
 ward. 
 
 " 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, w r ith some indig 
 nation, to see who it was that so familiarly laid his 
 hand 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 dis 
 appointed Sheriff, who felt the loss of the first sa 
 lutation 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 im 
 provements, but away she scampered, through the 
 snow, at the first sound of the 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 law ; nay, I doubt whether they 
 are not already indictable at common law." 
 
 " Well, sir, as you are Sheriff of the county, it 
 becomes your duty to examine into the matter," 
 returned the smiling Marmaduke. " I perceive 
 that Bess has executed her commission, and I hope 
 it met with a favourable reception." 
 
 Richard glanced his eye at the packet, which he 
 
THE PIONEERS. 261 
 
 held in his hand, and the slight anger produced by 
 his 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 con 
 tinued " First, duke, let me thank you for your 
 friendly interest with the Council and the Govern 
 or, without which, I am confident, that the greatest 
 merit would avail but little. But we are sisters 
 children we are sisters children ; and you may 
 use me like one of your horses ; ride me or drive 
 me, duke, I am wholly yours. But in my humble 
 opinion, this young companion of Leather-stocking 
 requires looking after. He has a very dangerous 
 propensity for turkey." 
 
 " Leave him to my management, Dickon." said 
 the Judge, gravely, " and I will cure his appetite 
 by indulgence. It is with him that I would speak. 
 \*et us rejoin the sportsmen." 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 "Poor wrstch ! the mother that him bare, 
 If she had been in presence there, 
 In his wan face, and sun-burnt hair, 
 She had not known her child." 
 
 Scott. 
 
 IT diminished, in no degree, the effect produced 
 Ly the conversation which passed between Judge 
 Temple and the young hunter, that the former took 
 the arm of his daughter, and drew it through his 
 own, when he advanced from the spot whither Ri 
 chard had led him to where the youth was stand 
 ing, in a musing attitude, leaning on his rifle, and 
 apparently contemplating the dead bird that lay at 
 his feet. The presence of Marmaduke did not in 
 terrupt 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 the place where 
 stood their youthful companion ; and, although in 
 the immediate vicinity of such a throng, the fol 
 lowing 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 un 
 expected address, caused him to pause a moment 
 
THE PIONEERS 263 
 
 in manifest surprise, also. As no answer was given, 
 and the strong emotion exhibited in the counte 
 nance of the youth gradually passed away, he con 
 tinued " 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 leaves me, just now, destitute of 
 one who might greatly aid me with his pen. Your 
 manner, notwithstanding appearances, is a suffi 
 cient proof of your education, nor will thy shoul 
 der suffer thee to labour, for some time to come. 
 My doors are open to thee, my young friend, for 
 in this infant country we harbour no suspicions : 
 little offering to tempt the cupidity of the evil dis 
 posed. Become my assistant, for at least a season, 
 and receive such compensation as thy services will 
 deserve." 
 
 There was nothing in the manner or 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, as if 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 
 my subsistence." 
 
 Richard here took occasion to whisper to the 
 young lady, who had shrunk a little from the fore 
 ground of the picture 
 
 " This, you see, cousin Bess, is the natural re 
 luctance of a half-breed to leave the savage state. 
 
264 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 Their attachment to a wandering life is, I verily 
 believe, unconquerable." 
 
 " It is a precarious life," observed Marmaduke, 
 without hearing the Sheriff s observation, " and 
 one that brings more evils with it than present suf 
 fering. Trust me, my young friend, my experi 
 ence is greater than thine, when I tell thee, that 
 the unsettled life of these hunters is of vast disad 
 vantage for temporal purposes, and it totally re 
 moves one from within the influence of more sacred 
 things." 
 
 " No, no, Judge," interrupted the Leather-stock 
 ing, who was hitherto unseen, or disregarded ; 
 " take him into your shanty in welcome, but tell 
 him the raal thing. I have lived in the woods for 
 forty long years, and have spent five years at & 
 time without seeing the light of a clearing bigger 
 than a wind-row in the trees ; and I should like to 
 know where you ll find a man, in his sixty-eighth 
 year, who can get an easier living, for all your bet 
 terments, and your deer-laws : and, as for honesty, 
 or doing what s right between man and man, I ll 
 not turn my back to the longest winded deacon on 
 your patent." 
 
 " Thou art an exception, Leather-stocking," re 
 turned the Judge, nodding good-naturedly at the 
 hunter ; " for thou hast a temperance unusual in 
 thy class, and a hardihood exceeding thy years. 
 But this youth is made of materials too precious to 
 be wasted in the forest. I entreat thee to join my 
 family, if it be but till thy arm be healed. My 
 daughter here, who is mistress of my dwelling, will 
 tell thee that thou art welcome." 
 
 " Certainly," said Elizabeth, whose earnestness 
 was strongly checked by the assumption of a wo 
 man s dignity. " The unfortunate would be wel- 
 
THE PIONEERS. 265 
 
 come 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 those 
 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 re 
 ward, and all those points which are deemed of 
 importance among men of business. /The youth 
 listened in extreme agitation. There was an evi 
 dent 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 handsome features, like a dark cloud obscuring 
 a noonday sun. 
 
 The Indian, in whose manner the depression of 
 self-abasement was most powerfully exhibited, lis 
 tened 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 ot 
 yielding in the countenance of his young compa 
 nion, he changed at once from his attitude and look 
 of shame to the fearless and proud front of an In 
 dian warrior, and moving, with great dignity, closer 
 to the parties, he spoke in his turn. 
 
 " Listen to your Father," he said, " for his 
 words are old. Let the Young Eagle and the 
 Great Land Chief eat together; let them steep, 
 without fear, near to each other. The children of 
 Miquon love not blood ; they are just, and will do 
 right. The sun must rise and set often, before 
 men can make one family ; it is not the work of a 
 day, but of many winters. The Mingoes and the 
 Delawares are born enemies ; their blood can never 
 23 
 
THE PIONEERS. 
 
 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 have Delaware blood ; 
 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 eventu 
 ally consented to his proposal. It was, however, 
 to be an experiment only ; and if either of the par 
 ties 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 of the spectators 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 com 
 mencing with the Judge, his daughter, and Richard, 
 who were slowly pursuing the way back to the 
 Mansion-house. 
 
 " I have surely endeavoured to remember the 
 holy mandates of our Redeemer, when he bids us 
 to 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 be thy presence and visage, Bess." 
 
 " No, no," said Richard, with great simplicity in 
 his manner ; " it is not cousin Bess. But when 
 did you ever know a half-breed, duke, who could 
 bear civilization ? For that matter, they are worse 
 than the savages themselves. Did you notice how 
 
THE PIONEERS. 267 
 
 knock-kneed he stood, Elizabeth, and what a wild 
 look he had in his eyes ?" 
 
 " I heeded not his eyes, sir," returned the maid 
 en, " 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 in our family. Truly, we are 
 much honoured by the association ! In what apart 
 ment 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 surely 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." 
 
 u Then, sir," said Elizabeth, with an air that 
 was slightly affected, as if submitting to her father s 
 orders in opposition to her own will, " it is your 
 pleasure that he be a gentleman." 
 
 " Certainly ; he is to fill the station of one ; let 
 him receive the treatment that is due to his place, 
 until we find him unworthy of it." 
 
 " Well, well, duke," cried the Sheriff, " you will 
 find it no easy matter to make a gentleman of him 
 The old proverb says, c that it takes three genera 
 tions to make a gentleman. There was my father, 
 whom every body knew ; my grandfather w r as 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 merchant, in 
 London, or a great country lawyer." 
 
 " Here is a true American genealogy for you, 1 
 
268 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 said Marmaduke, laughing. " It does very well, 
 till you get across the water, where, as every 
 thing is obscure, it is certain to deal in the superla 
 tive. You are sure that your English progenitor was 
 great, Dickon, whatever his profession might be ?" 
 
 "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 honourable 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 com 
 mence their traditions, like the stories for children, 
 with three brothers, taking especial care that one 
 of the triumvirate shall be the progenitor of any of 
 the same name who may happen to be better fur 
 nished 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 3udge." 
 
 " Well, duke, I call this democracy, not repub 
 licanism; but I say nothing; only let him keep 
 within the law, or I shall show him, that the free 
 dom of even this country is under wholesome re 
 straint." 
 
 " Surely, Dickon, you will not execute till I con 
 demn !" said Marmaduke. " 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 particu 
 lar ; not easily to be turned from my opinion. But, 
 to be serious, although I must think the introduc 
 tion of a demi-savage into the family a somewhat 
 startling event, whomsoever you think proper to 
 countenance may be sure of my respect." 
 
THE PIONEERS. 269 
 
 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 warn 
 ings, with his accustomed loquacity. 
 
 On the other hand, the foresters for the three 
 hunters, notwithstanding their great difference in 
 character, well deserved this common name pur 
 sued 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, to 
 wards the foot of the mountain, where their hut 
 stood, that the youth exclaimed 
 
 " Who could have foreseen this, a montn since ! 
 I have consented to serve Marmaduke Temple 
 to be an inmate in the dwelling of the greatest ene 
 my of my race ! Yet what better could I do ? The 
 servitude cannot be long, and when the motive for 
 submitting to it ceases to exist, I will shake it off*, 
 like the dust from my feet." 
 
 " Is he a Mingo, that you will call him enemy ?" 
 said Mohegan. " The Delaware warrior sits still, 
 and waits the time of the Great Spirit. He is no 
 woman, to cry out like a child." 
 
 " Well, I m mistrustful, John," said Leather* 
 stocking, in whose air there had been, during the 
 whole business, a strong expression of doubt and 
 uncertainty. " They say that there s new laws in 
 the land, and I am sartain that there s new ways 
 in the mountains. One hardly knows the lakes and 
 streams, they ve altered the country so much. I 
 must say I m mistrustful of such smooth speakers ; 
 for I ve known the whites talk fair, when they 
 wanted the Indian lands most. This I will say, 
 though I m white myself, and was born nigh York, 
 and of honest parents too." 
 
 " I will submit," said the youth ; I will forget 
 
270 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 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 bis bondsman his slave ! 
 Is it not an honourable 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 Mohe 
 gan 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." 
 
 " Pm not the man I was, I ll own, Chingach- 
 gook," returned the Leather-stocking ; " but I can 
 go without a meal now, on occasion. When we 
 tracked the Iroquois through the Beech-woods, 
 they druv the game afore them, for I hadn t a mor 
 sel to eat from Monday morning come Wednes 
 day sundown ; and then I shot as fat a buck, on 
 the Pennsylvany line, as you ever laid eyes on. 
 It would have done your heart raal good to have 
 seen the Delawares eat for I was out scouting 
 and scrimmaging with their tribe, at the very 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, fore 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 
 eat of his meat raw. John was there, and John 
 
THE PIONEERS. 271 
 
 knows. But then starvation would be apt to be 
 too much for me now, I will own, though I m no 
 great eater at any time." 
 
 " Enough is said, my friends," cried the youth. 
 " I feel that every where the sacrifice is required 
 at my hands, and it shall be made ; but say no 
 more, I entreat you ; I cannot bear this subject 
 now." 
 
 His companions were silent, and they soon reach 
 ed 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 throw r n 
 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 another, 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, notwithstanding the Di 
 vine fixed his eyes intently on the Indian, when 
 he invited his congregation to advance to the table, 
 the shame of last night s abasement was yet too 
 keen in the old chief to suffer him to move. 
 
 When the people were dispersing, the clouds, 
 that had been gathering all the morning, were 
 dense and dirty; and before half of the curious 
 
272 THE PIONEERS 
 
 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 them 
 selves, as the snow settled rapidly; the fences of 
 logs and brush, which before had been only traced 
 by the long lines of white mounds, that ran across 
 the valley and up the mountains, peeped out, in 
 spots, from their light covering ; and the black 
 stubs were momentarily becoming more distinct, 
 as large masses of snow and ice fell from their 
 sides, under the influence of the thaw. 
 
 Sheltered in the warm hall of her father s com 
 fortable mansion, Elizabeth, accompanied by Loui 
 sa Grant, looked abroad with admiration at the 
 ever-varying face of things without. Even the 
 village, which had just before been glittering with 
 the colour of the frozen element, reluctantly drop 
 ped its mask, and the houses exposed their dark 
 roofs and smoked chimneys. The pines shook off 
 their covering of snow, and every thing seemed to 
 be assuming its proper hue, with a rapidity of 
 transition thit bordered on the supernatural. 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 1 And yet, poor Edwin was nj vu.er 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 the 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 in 
 troduction to her father s family, of one, whose 
 manners so singularly contradicted ihe inferences 
 to be drawn from his situation. The expiring heat 
 of the apartment, for its great size required a day 
 to reduce its temperature, had given to her cheeks 
 a richness of bloom that exceeded their natural 
 colour, while the mild and melancholy features of 
 
274 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 Louisa were brightened with a faint tinge, that, 
 like the hectic glow of disease, gave a painful in 
 terest to her beauty. 
 
 The eyes of the gentlemen, who were yet seat 
 ed around the rich wines of Judge Temple, fre 
 quently wandered from the table, that was placed 
 at one end of the hall, to the lovely 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 Mar- 
 maduke respected the presence of his clerical 
 guest too much, to indulge in even the innocent 
 humour, that formed no small ingredient in his 
 character. 
 
 Such were, and such continued to be, the pur 
 suits of the party, for half an hour after the shut 
 ters were closed, and candles were placed in va 
 rious parts of the hall, as substitutes for the de 
 parting daylight. The appearance of Benjamin, 
 staggering under the burthen of an armful of wood, 
 was the first interruption to the scene. 
 
 " How now, Master Pump !" roared the newly 
 appointed Sheriff; " is there not warmth enough 
 in duke s best Madeira, to keep up the animal 
 heat through this thaw ? Remember, old boy, 
 that the Judge is particular with his beech and 
 maple, beginning to dread, already, a scarcity of 
 the precious articles. Ha! ha! ha! duke, you 
 are a good, warm-hearted relation, I will own, as 
 in duty bound, but you have some queer notions 
 about you, after all. c Come, let us be jolly, and 
 cast away folly " 
 
 The notes gradually sunk into a hum, while the 
 Major-domo threw down his load, and turning to 
 his interrogator with an air of great earnestness, 
 he replied 
 
THE PIONEERS. 275 
 
 " Why, look you, Squire Dickens, mayhap 
 there s a warm latitude round about the table there, 
 thof it s not the stuff to raise the heat in my body, 
 neither ; the raal Jamaiky being the only thing to 
 do that, beside good wood, or some such matter as 
 Newcastle coal. But, if I know any thing of wea 
 ther, d ye see, it s time to be getting all snug, and 
 for putting the ports in, and stirring the fires a bit. 
 Mayhap I ve not followed the seas twenty-seven 
 years, and lived another seven in these here woods, 
 for nothing, gemmen." 
 
 " Why, does it bid fair for a change in the wea 
 ther, Benjamin ?" inquired the master of the house. 
 
 " There s a shift of wind, your honour," re 
 turned the steward ; " and when there s a shift of 
 wind, you may look for a change in this here cli 
 mate. I was aboard of one of Rodney s fleet, d ye 
 see, about the time we licked De Grasse, Moun- 
 sheer Ler Quaw s countryman, there; and the 
 wind was here at the south ard and east ard ; and I 
 was below, mixing a toothful of hot-stuff for the 
 Captain of marines, who dined, d ye see, in the 
 cabin, that there very same day ; and I suppose he 
 wanted to put out the Captain s fire with a gun 
 room ingyne : and so, just as I got it to my own 
 liking, after tasting pretty often, for the soldier was 
 difficult to please, slap came the fore-sail ag in 
 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 
 payed off, which was more than every ship in the 
 fleet did, or could do. But she strained herself IP 
 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." 
 
276 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 " 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 med cine 
 chest for a cure ; for, as I thought the brew was 
 spoilt for the marine s taste, and there was no tell 
 ing 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 be 
 gun to ply the pumps" 
 
 " Well, but the weather ?" interrupted Marma 
 duke ; " what of the weather without doors ?" 
 
 " Why, here the wind has been all day at the 
 south, and now there s a lull, as if the last blast 
 was out of bellows ; and there s a streak along the 
 mountain, to the north ard, that, just now, was nt 
 wider than the bigness of your hand ; and then the 
 clouds drive afore it as you d brail a mainsail, and 
 the stars are heaving in sight, like so many lights 
 and beacons, put there to warn us to pile on the 
 wood ; and, if-so-be that I m a judge of weather, 
 it s getting to be time to build on a fire ; or you ll 
 have half of them there porter bottles, and them 
 dimmy-johns 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 least." 
 
 Benjamin did as he was ordered ; nor had two 
 hours elapsed, before the prudence of his precau 
 tions became very visible. The south wind had, 
 indeed, blown itself out, and it was succeeded by 
 the calmness that usually gave warning of a serious 
 change in the weather. Long before the family 
 retired to rest, the cold had become cuttingly se 
 vere ; and when Monsieur Le Quoi sallied forth, 
 under a bright moon, to seek his own abode, he 
 
THE PIONEERS. 277 
 
 was compelled to beg a blanket, in which he might 
 envelope his form, in addition to the numerous 
 garments that his sagacity had provided for the oc 
 casion. The divine and his daughter remained, as 
 inmates of the Mansion-house, during the night, 
 and the excess of last night s merriment induced 
 the gentlemen to make an early retreat to their 
 several apartments. Long before midnight, the 
 whole family were invisible. 
 
 Elizabeth and her friend had not yet lost their 
 senses in sleep, when the bowlings of the north 
 west 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 in the 
 air. 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 strongly resem 
 bled the cries of that faithful animal, when night 
 awakens his vigilance, and gives sweetness and so 
 lemnity to his alarms. The form of Louisa 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 doors. Oh ! what a dreadful 
 night it was ! But the riches of Judge Temple 
 
 24 
 
278 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 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, proudly, throw 
 ing off the covering, and partly rising in the bed. 
 " How rapidly is civilization treading on the foot 
 steps of nature !" she continued, as her eye glanced 
 over, not only the comforts, but the luxuries of her 
 apartment, and her ear again listened to the dis 
 tant, but often repeated howls from the lake. 
 Finding, however, that the timidity of her com 
 panion rendered the sounds painful to her, Eliza 
 beth resumed her place by her side, and soon for 
 got 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 their 
 fire, awoke the young maidens who form such con 
 spicuous subjects in our tale. They arose, and 
 finished the slight preparations of their toilets in 
 a clear, cold atmosphere, that penetrated through 
 all the defences of even Miss Temple s warm room. 
 When Elizabeth was attired, she approached a 
 window and drew its curtain, and, throwing open 
 its shutters, she endeavoured to look abroad on the 
 village and the lake. But a thick covering of frost, 
 on the panes of glass, while it admitted the light, 
 hid the view. She raised the sash, and then, in 
 deed, a most glorious scene met her delighted eye. 
 
 The lake had exchanged its covering of unspot 
 ted snow, for a face of dark ice, that reflected the 
 rays of the rising sun, like a polished mirror. The 
 houses were clothed in a dress of the same descrip 
 tion, 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 
 
THE PIONEERS. 279 
 
 each glittered, on the side next to the luminary, 
 with a golden lustre, that melted away, on its op 
 posite, 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, on the western mountains, 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 this direction, were 
 marked by an undulating outline of bright light, as 
 if, reversing the order of nature, numberless suns 
 might momentarily be expected to heave above the 
 western horizon. In the foreground of the pic 
 ture, along the shores of the lake, and near to the 
 village, each tree seemed studded with diamonds, 
 that emitted their dancing rays, as the branches 
 waved gently under the impulse of the air. 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 
 
280 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 " The change is indeed wonderful ! I am sur 
 prised that he should be able to effect it so soon." 
 
 Elizabeth turned in amazement, to hear such a 
 skeptical 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 fa 
 ther. A second look was necessary, before she 
 was able to recognise the person of the young 
 hunter, in a plain, but, assuredly, the ordinary garb 
 of a gentleman. 
 
 " Every thing in this magical country seems to 
 border on the marvellous," said Elizabeth ; " and 
 among all the changes, this is certainly not the least 
 wonderful. I am not surprised, that your eye 
 caught this transformation, without noticing the 
 changes in the view. The actors are as unique as 
 the scenery." 
 
 Miss Grant coloured highly, and drew in her 
 head, as she answered 
 
 "I am a simple girl, Miss Temple, and I am 
 afraid you will find me but a poor companion. I 
 I am not sure that I understand all that 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 certainly a genteel savage," returned 
 the smiling Elizabeth. " 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 Tern 
 pie, who took his daughter aside, to apprise her of 
 
THE PIONEERS. 281 
 
 that alteration in the appearance of their new in 
 mate, with which she was already acquainted. 
 
 " He appears reluctant to converse on his for 
 mer situation," continued Marmaduke ; " but I 
 gather from his discourse, as is apparent from his 
 manner, that he has seen better days ; and I really 
 am inclining to the opinion of ftichard, 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 daugh 
 ter, 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 behaviour, I trust 
 to your discernment to control it." 
 
 " Ay ! but, Bess," said the Judge, detaining her 
 gently with his hand, " nothing must be said to him 
 of his past life. This he has begged particularly 
 of me, as a favour. He is, perhaps, a little soured, 
 just now, with his wounded arm ; but 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 curi 
 osity. I shall believe him to be the child of Corn 
 stalk, or Corn-planter, or some other renowned 
 chieftain; possibly of the Big Snake himself; and 
 shall treat him as such, until he sees fit to shave 
 his good-looking head, borrow some half-dozen 
 pair of my best earrings, shoulder his rifle again, 
 and disappear as suddenly as he made his entrance. 
 So come, my dear sir, and let us not forget the rites 
 of hospitality, for the short time he is to remain 
 with us." 
 
 Judge Temple smiled at the graceful playfulness 
 of his child, and taking her arm, they entered the 
 24* 
 
282 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 breakfast parlour, 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 extra 
 ordinary increase in the family of Judge Temple, 
 where, having once established the youth, the sub 
 ject of our tale requires us to leave him, for a time, 
 to pursue with diligence and intelligence the em 
 ployments 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 
 much of his time, in remote parts of the country, 
 and his daughter became almost a constant visiter 
 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 adventurers for 
 farms, the winter passed swiftly away. The lake 
 was a principal scene for the amusements of the 
 young people ; where the ladies, in their one-horse 
 cutter, driven by Richard, and attended, when the 
 snow would admit of it, by young Edwards, on his 
 skates, spent many hours, taking the benefit of ex 
 ercise in the clear air of the hills. The reserve of 
 the youth gradually gave way to time and his situa 
 tion, 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 lan 
 guage of the country, (C made their pitch ;" while 
 the numberless sleighs that passed through the vil 
 lage, loaded with wheat and barrels of pot-ashes, 
 afforded a clear demonstration that all these labours 
 
THE PIONEERS. 283 
 
 were not undertaken in vain. In short, the whole 
 country was exhibiting the bustle of a thriving set 
 tlement, 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 happi 
 ness. 
 
 The village was alive with business ; the artisans 
 increasing in wealth with the prosperity of the 
 country, and each day witnessing some nearer ap 
 proach 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, towards the Mohawk, along which 
 a regular vehicle glided, semi- weekly, with the ve 
 locity of lightning, and under the direction of a 
 knowing whip from the " down countries." To 
 wards 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 neighbourhoods, who were tempted by 
 their representations to leave the farms of Con 
 necticut and Massachusetts, and make a trial in the 
 woods for fortune. 
 
 During all this time, Oliver Edwards, whose 
 sudden elevation excited no surprise in that change 
 ful 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, 
 
284 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 but with much zeal and apparent interest to all the 
 parties. Even Mohegan seldom came to the Man 
 sion-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 ex 
 cited much speculation in those to whom they were 
 known, but no comments were made, excepting 
 occasionally, in whispers from Richard, who would 
 say 
 
 " It is not at all remarkable ; a half-breed can 
 never be weaned from the savage ways, any more 
 than a full-blooded Indian." 
 
CHAPTER XX. 
 
 M Away I nor let me loiter in my song, 
 
 For we have many a mountain path to tread. 
 
 As the spring gradually approached, the im 
 mense piles of snow, that by alternate thaws and 
 frosts, and repeated storms, had obtained a firm 
 ness that threatened a tiresome durability, began 
 to yield to the influence of milder breezes and a 
 warmer sun. The gates of Heaven at times seem 
 ed 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 which crossed the creation. These 
 struggles between the seasons became, daily, more 
 frequent, while the earth, like a victim to conten- 
 
J86 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 tion, slowly lost the animated brilliancy of winter, 
 without obtaining the decided 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 throng 
 ed with visiters ; 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, dur 
 ing the winter, glided along their windings ; and, 
 in short, every thing seemed indicative of a mighty 
 change, not only in the earth itself, but in those 
 also, who derived their sources of comfort and hap 
 piness from her bosom. 
 
 The younger members of the family in the Man 
 sion-house, of which Louisa Grant was now habit 
 ually one, were by no means indifferent observers 
 of these fluctuating and tardy changes. While the 
 snow rendered the roads passable, they had par 
 taken largely in the amusements of the winter, 
 which included not only daily rides over the moun 
 tains, 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 rides in the equipage of 
 Richard, when, with his four horses, he had out 
 stripped the winds with its speed, 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. Cut 
 ters, drawn by a single horse, and hand-sleds, im 
 pelled by the gentlemen, on skates, would each in 
 their turn be used ; and, in short, every source of 
 
THE PIONEERS. 287 
 
 relief against the tediousness of a winter in the 
 mountains was resorted to by the family. Eliza 
 beth was compelled to acknowledge to her father, 
 that the season, with the aid of his library, was 
 much less irksome than she had anticipated. 
 
 As exercise in the open air was in some de 
 gree necessary to the habits of the family, when 
 the constant recurrence of frosts and thaws ren 
 dered the roads, which were dangerous at the 
 most favour able times, utterly impassable for wheels, 
 saddle horses were used as substitutes for theii 
 other conveyances. Mounted on small and sure 
 footed beasts, the ladies would again attempt the 
 passages of the mountains, and penetrate into every 
 retired glen, where the enterprise of a settler had 
 induced him to establish himself. In these excur 
 sions they were attended by some one or all of the 
 gentlemen of the family, as their different pursuits 
 admitted. Young Edwards was hourly becoming 
 more familiarized to his situation, and not unfre- 
 quently mingled in their parties, with an uncon 
 cern and gayety, that for a short time, would, ap 
 parently, expel all unpleasant recollections from 
 his mind. Habit, and the buoyancy of youth, seem 
 ed to be getting the ascendency over the secret 
 causes of his uneasiness ; though there were mo 
 ments, when the same remarkable expression of 
 disgust would cross his intercourse with Marma- 
 duke, that had distinguished their conversations 
 in the first days of their acquaintance. 
 
 It was at the close of the month of March, that 
 the Sheriff succeeded in persuading his cousin and 
 her young friend to accompany him in a ride to a 
 hill that was said to overhang the lake in a manner 
 peculiar to itself. 
 
 " Besides, cousin Bess," continued the indefati 
 gable Richard. " we will stop and see the c sugar 
 
288 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 bush of Billy Kirby : he is on the east end of the 
 Ransom lot, making sugar for Jared Ransom. 
 There is not a better hand over a kettle in the 
 county than that same Kirby. You remember, 
 duke, that I had him his first season, in our own 
 camp ; and it is not a wonder that he knows some 
 thing of his trade." 
 
 " He s a good chopper, is Billy," observed Ben 
 jamin, who held the bridle of the horse while the 
 Sheriff mounted ; " and he handles an axe much 
 the same as a forecastle-man does his marling spike, 
 or a tailor his goose. They say he ll lift a potash 
 kettle off the arch with his own hands, thof I can t 
 say that I ve ever seen him do it with my own 
 eyes ; but that is the say. And I ve seen sugar 
 of his making, which, maybe, was nt as white as 
 an old top-gallantsail, but which my friend Mis 
 tress Pretty-bones, within there, said had the true 
 molasses smack to it ; and you are not the one, 
 Squire Dickens, to be told that Mistress Remark 
 able has a remarkable tooth for sweet things in her 
 nut grinder." 
 
 The loud laugh that succeeded the wit of Ben 
 jamin, and in which he participated, with no very 
 harmonious sounds, himself, very fully illustrated 
 the congenial temper which existed between the 
 pair. Most of its point was, however, lost on the 
 rest of the party, who were either mounting their 
 horses, or assisting the ladies to do so, at the mo 
 ment. When all were safely in their saddles, the 
 whole moved through the village in great order. 
 They paused for a moment, before the door of 
 Monsieur Le Quoi, until he could bestride his 
 steed, and then issuing from the little cluster of 
 houses, they took one of the principal of those 
 highways that centred in the village. 
 
 As each night brought with it a severe frost, 
 
THE PIONEERS. 289 
 
 which the heat of the succeeding day served to 
 dissipate, the equestrians were compelled to pro 
 ceed singly along the margin of the road, where 
 the turf, and firmness of the ground, gave their 
 horses a secure footing. Very trifling indications 
 of approaching vegetation were to be seen, the 
 surface of the earth presenting a cold, wet, and 
 Cheerless aspect that almost chilled the blood of 
 the spectator. The snow yet lay scattered over 
 most of those distant clearings that were visible in 
 different parts of the mountains ; though here and 
 there an opening might be seen, where, as the 
 white covering yielded to the season, the bright 
 and lively green of the wheat served to enkindle 
 the hopes of the husbandman. Nothing could be 
 more marked than the contrast between the earth 
 and the heavens ; for, while the former presented 
 the dreary view that we have described, a warm 
 and invigorating sun was dispensing his heats from 
 a sky that contained but a solitary cloud that lin 
 gered near the mountain, and through an atmo 
 sphere that softened the colours of the sensible hori 
 zon until it shone like a sea of virgin blue. 
 
 Richard led the way, on this, as on all other oc 
 casions, that did not require the exercise of unu 
 sual abilities ; and as he moved along, he essayed 
 to enliven the party with the sounds of his expe 
 rienced voice. 
 
 " This is your true sugar weather, duke," he 
 cried ; " A frosty night and a sunshiny day. I 
 warrant me that the sap runs like a mill-tail up the 
 maples this warm morning. It is a pity, Judge, 
 that you do not introduce a little more science into 
 the manufactory of sugar among your tenants. It 
 might be done, sir, without knowing as much as 
 Doctor Franklin it might be done, Judge Tem 
 ple." 
 
 25 
 
290 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 " The first object of my solicitude, friend Jones," 
 returned Marmaduke, " is to protect the sources 
 of this great mine of comfort and wealth from the 
 extravagance of the people themselves. When 
 this important point shall be achieved, it will be 
 in season to turn our attention to an improvement 
 in the manufacture of the article. But thou know- 
 est, Richard, that I have already subjected our su 
 gar to the process of the refiner, and that the re 
 sult has produced loaves as white as the snow on 
 yon fields, and possessing the saccharine quality 
 in its utmost purity." 
 
 " Saccharine, or turpentine, or any other ine, 
 Judge Temple, you have never made a loaf larger 
 than a good sized sugar-plum,", returned the She 
 riff. " Now, sir, I assert that no experiment is 
 fairly tried, until it be reduced to practical pur 
 poses. If, sir, I owned a hundred, or, for that 
 matter, two hundred thousand acres of land, as you 
 do, I would build a sugar-house in the village ; I 
 would invite learned men to an investigation of the 
 subject, and such are easily to be found, sir ; yes, 
 sir, they are not difficult to find, men who unite 
 theory with practice ; and I would select a 
 wood of young and thrifty trees ; and instead of 
 making loaves of the size of a lump of andy, 
 dam me, duke, but I d have them as big as a hay 
 cock." 
 
 " And purchase the cargo of one of those ships 
 that, they say, are going to China," cried Eliza 
 beth ; " turn your potash-kettles into tea-cups, the 
 scows on the lake into saucers : bake your cake in 
 yonder lime-kiln, and invite the county to a tea- 
 party. How wonderful are the projects of genius ! 
 Really, sir, the world is of opinion that Judge 
 Temple has tried the experiment fairly, though he 
 did not cause his loaves to be cast in moulds of the 
 
THE PIONEERS. 291 
 
 magnitude that would suit your magnificent con 
 ceptions." 
 
 " You may laugh, cousin Elizabeth you may 
 laugh, madam," retorted Richard, turning himself 
 so much in his saddle as to face the party, and 
 making extremely dignified gestures with his whip ; 
 " but I appeal to common sense, good sense, or, 
 what is of more importance than either, to the sense 
 of taste, which is one of the five natural senses, 
 whether a big loaf of sugar is not likely to contain 
 a better illustration of a proposition than such a 
 lump as one of your Dutch women puts under her 
 tongue when she drinks her tea. There are two 
 ways of doing every thing ; the right way, and the 
 wrong way. You make sugar now, I will admit, 
 and you may, possibly, make loaf-sugar; but I 
 take the question to be, whether you make the 
 best possible sugar, and into the best possible 
 loaves." 
 
 " Thou art very right, Richard," observed Mai- 
 maduke, with a gravity in his air, that proved how 
 much he was interested in the subject. " It is ve 
 ry true that we manufacture sugar, but the inquiry 
 is quite useful to make, how much ? and in what 
 manner? I hope to live to see the day, when 
 farms and plantations shall be devoted to this 
 branch of business. Little is known concerning 
 the properties of the tree itself, the source of all 
 this wealth ; how much it may be improved by 
 cultivation, by the use of the hoe and plough." 
 
 " Hoe and plough," roared the Sheriff ; " would 
 you set a man hoeing round the root of a maple 
 like this," pointing to one of those noble trees, 
 that occur so frequently in that part of the coun 
 try. " Hoeing trees ! are you mad, duke ? This 
 is next to hunting for coal ! Poh ! poh ! my dear 
 cousin, hear reason, and leave the management of 
 
292 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 the sugar-bush to me. Here is Mr. Le Quoi, he 
 has been in the West Indies, and seen sugar made 
 often. Let him give an account of how it is made 
 there, and you will hear the philosophy of the 
 thing. Well, Monsieur, how is it that you make 
 sugar in the West Indies ; any thing in Judge 
 Temple s fashion ?" 
 
 The gentleman to whom this query was put was 
 mounted on a small horse, of no very fiery tem 
 perament, and was riding with his stirrups so short, 
 as to bring his knees, while the animal rose a small 
 ascent in the wood-path they were now travelling, 
 into a somewhat hazardous vicinity to his chin. 
 There was no room for gesticulation or grace in 
 the delivery of his reply, for the mountain was 
 steep and slippery ; and although the Gaul had an 
 eye of uncommon magnitude on either side of his 
 face, they did not seem to be half competent to 
 forewarn him of the impediments of bushes, twigs, 
 and fallen trees, that were momentarily crossing 
 his path. With one hand employed in averting 
 these dangers, and the other grasping his bridle, to 
 check an untoward speed that his horse was as 
 suming, the native of France responded as fol 
 lows 
 
 " Sucre ! dey do make eet in Martinique : mais 
 mais eet is not from von tree ; eet is from ah 
 ah vat you call Je voudrois que ces chemins 
 fussent au diable vat you call von steeck pour 
 le promenade." 
 
 " Cane," said Elizabeth, smiling at the impreca 
 tion which the wary Frenchman supposed was un 
 derstood only by himself. 
 
 " Oui, Mam selle, cane." 
 
 " Yes, yes," cried Richard, " cane is the vulgar 
 name for it, but the real term is saccharum offici- 
 narum ; and what we call the sugar, or hard ma- 
 
THE PIONEERS. 293 
 
 pie, is acer saccharinum. These are the learned 
 names, Monsieur, and are such as, doubtless, you 
 well understand." 
 
 " Is this Greek or Latin, Mr. Edwards ?" whis 
 pered the heiress to the youth, who was opening 
 a passage for herself and her companions through 
 the bushes " or perhaps it is a still more learned 
 language, for an interpretation of which we must 
 look to you." 
 
 The dark eye of the young man glanced towards 
 the maiden, with a keenness bordering on feroci 
 ty ; but its expression changed, in a moment, to 
 the smiling playfulness of her ow 7 n face, as he an 
 swered 
 
 " I shall remember your doubts, Miss Temple, 
 when next I visit my old friend Mohegan, and ei 
 ther his skill, or that of Leather-stocking, shall 
 solve them." 
 
 " And are you, then, really ignorant of their 
 language ?" asked Elizabeth, with an impetuosity 
 that spoke a lively interest in the reply. 
 
 " Not absolutely ; but the deep learning of Mr. 
 Jones is more familiar to me, or even the polite 
 masquerade of Monsieur Le Quoi." 
 
 " Do you speak French ?" said the lady, with a 
 quickness that equalled her former interest. 
 
 " It is a common language with the Iroquois, and 
 through the Canadas," he answered, with an equi 
 vocal smile. 
 
 " Ah ! but they are Mingoes, and your enemies." 
 
 " It will be well for me, if I have no worse," 
 said the youth, dashing ahead with his horse, and 
 thus putting an end to the evasive dialogue. 
 
 The discourse, however, was maintained with 
 
 great vigour by Richard, until they reached an 
 
 open wood on the summit of the mountain, where 
 
 the hemlocks and pines totally disappeared, and a 
 
 25* 
 
294 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 grove of the very trees that formed the subject of 
 debate covered the earth with their tall, straight 
 trunks and spreading branches, in stately pride. 
 The underwood had been entirely removed from 
 this grove, or bush, as in conjunction with the sim 
 ple arrangements for boiling, it was called, and a 
 wide space of many acres was cleared, which 
 might be likened to the dome of a mighty temple, 
 to which the maples with their stems formed the 
 columns, their tops composing the capitals, and the 
 heavens the arch. A deep and careless incision 
 had been made into each tree, near its root, into 
 which little spouts, formed of the bark of the alder, 
 or of the sumach, were fastened ; and a trough, 
 roughly dug out of the linden, or basswood, was 
 lying at the root of each tree, to catch the sap that 
 flowed from this extremely wasteful and inartificial 
 arrangement. 
 
 The party paused a moment, on gaining the flat, 
 to breathe their horses, and, as the scene was en 
 tirely new to several of their number, to view the 
 manner of collecting the fluid. A fine powerful 
 voice aroused them from their momentary silence, 
 as it rung under the branches of the trees, singing 
 the following words of that inimitable doggrel, 
 whose verses, if extended, would reach from the 
 waters of the Connecticut to the shores of Ontario. 
 The tune was, of course, that familiar air, which, 
 although it is said to have been first applied to his 
 nation in derision, circumstances have since ren 
 dered so glorious, that no American ever hears its 
 jingling cadence without feeling a thrill at his 
 heart. 
 
 The Eastern States be full of men, 
 The Western full of woods, Sir, 
 
 The hills be like a cattle pen, 
 The roads bo full of goods, sir I 
 
THE PIONEERS. 295 
 
 Then flow away, my sweety sap, 
 
 And I will make you boily ; 
 Nor catch a woodman s hasty nap, 
 
 For fear you should get roily. 
 
 * The maple tree s a precious one, 
 
 Tis fuel, food, and timber ; 
 And when your stiff day s work is done, 
 
 Its juice will make you limber. 
 Then flow away, &c. 
 
 " And what s a man without his glass, 
 
 His wife without her tea, sir I 
 But neither cup nor mug will pass, 
 
 Without this honey-bee, sir ! 
 Then flow away," &c. 
 
 During the execution of this sonorous ditty, 
 Richard kept time with his whip on the mane of 
 his charger, accompanying the gestures with a cor 
 responding movement of his head and body. To 
 wards the close of the song, he was overheard 
 humming the chorus, and at its last repetition, to 
 strike in at " sweety sap," and carry a second 
 through, with a prodigious addition to the " effect" 
 of the noise, if not to that of the harmony. 
 
 " Well done us !" roared the Sheriff, on the 
 same key with the tune ; " a very good song, Billy 
 Kirby, and very well sung. Where got you the 
 words, lad ? is there more of it, and can you fur 
 nish me with a copy ?" 
 
 The sugar-boiler, who was busy in his " camp," 
 at a short distance from the equestrians, turned his 
 head with great indifference, and surveyed the 
 party, as they approached, with admirable coolness. 
 To each individual, as he or she rode close by him, 
 he gave a nod that was extremely good-natured 
 and affable, but which partook largely of the vir 
 tue of equality, for not even to the ladies did he in 
 the teast vary his mode of salutation, by touching 
 
296 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 the apology for a hat that he wore, or by any othei 
 motion than the one we have mentioned. 
 
 "How goes it, how goes it, Sheriff ?" said the 
 wood-chopper ; " what s the good word to-day ?" 
 
 " Why, much as usual, Billy," returned Ri 
 chard. " But how is this ! where are your four 
 kettles, and your troughs, and your iron coolers ? 
 Do you make sugar in this slovenly way ! I thought 
 you were one of the best sugar-boilers in the 
 county." 
 
 " I m all that, Squire Jones," said Kirby, who 
 continued his occupation ; " I ll turn my back to 
 no man in the Otsego hills, for chopping and log 
 ging ; for boiling down the maple sap ; for tending 
 brick-kiln ; splitting out rails ; making potash, and 
 parling too ; or hoeing corn. Though I keep my 
 self, pretty much, to the first business, seeing that 
 the axe comes most nateral to me." 
 
 " You be von Jack All-trade, Mister Beel," said 
 Monsieur Le Quoi. 
 
 " How ?" said Kirby, looking up, with a simpli 
 city which, coupled with his gigantic frame and 
 manly face, was a little ridiculous " if you be for 
 trade, Mounsher, here is some as good sugar as 
 you ll find the season through. It s as clear from 
 dirt as the Garman Flats is from stumps, and it has 
 the raal maple flavour. Such stuff would sell in 
 York for candy." 
 
 The Frenchman approached the place where 
 Kirby had deposited his cakes of sugar, under the 
 cover of a bark roof, and commenced the examina 
 tion of the article, with the eye of one who well un 
 derstood its value. Marmaduke had dismounted, and 
 was viewing the works and the trees very closely, 
 and not without frequent expressions of dissatis 
 faction at the careless manner in which the manu 
 facture was conducted. 
 
THE PIONEERS. 297 
 
 " You have much experience in these things, 
 Kirby," he said ; " what is the course you pursue 
 in making your sugar? I see that you have but 
 two kettles." 
 
 " Two is as good as two thousand, Judge ; I m 
 none of your polite sugar-makers, that boils for the 
 great folks ; but if the raal sweet maple is wanted, 
 I can answer your turn. First, I choose, and then 
 I tap my trees ; say along about the last of Febru 
 ary, or in these mountains, maybe not afore the 
 middle of March ; but any way, just as the sap be 
 gins to cleverly run " 
 
 " Well, in this choice," interrupted Marmaduke, 
 "are you governed by any outward signs, that 
 prove the quality of the tree ?" 
 
 " Why, there s judgment in all things," said 
 Kirby, stirring the liquor in his kettles briskly. 
 " There s something in knowing when and how 
 much to stir the pot. It s a thing that must be 
 larnt. Rome wasn t built in a day, nor, for that 
 matter, Templetown ither, though it may be said 
 to be a quick- growing place. I never put my axe 
 into a stunty tree, or one that hasn t a good, fresh- 
 looking bark; for trees have disorders just like 
 creaters : and where s the policy of taking a tree 
 that s sickly, any more than you d choose a foun 
 dered horse to ride post, or an overheated ox to 
 do your logging " 
 
 " All this is true : But what are your signs of 
 illness ? how do you distinguish a tree that is well 
 from one that is diseased ?" 
 
 " How does the doctor tell who has fever, and 
 who colds ?" interrupted Richard " by examining 
 the skin, and feeling the pulse, to be sure." 
 
 " Sartain," continued Billy, "the Squire an t 
 far out of the way. It s by the look of the thing, 
 sure enough. Well, when the sap begins to get a 
 
298 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 free run, I hang over the kettles, and set up the 
 bush. My first boiling I push pretty smart, till I 
 get the vartoo of the sap ; but when it begins to 
 grow of a molasses nater, like this in the kettle, 
 one musn t drive the fires too hard, or you ll burn 
 the sugar : and burny sugar is always bad to the 
 taste, let it be never so sweet. So you ladle out 
 from one kettle into the other, till it gets so, when 
 you put the stirring stick into it, that it will draw 
 into a thread : when it takes a kerful hand to ma 
 nage it. There is a way to drain it off, after it 
 has grained, by putting clay into the pans : but it 
 is nt always practysed : some doos, and some 
 doosn t. Well, Mounsher, be we likely to make 
 a trade ?" 
 
 " I vill give you, Mister Beel, for von pound 
 dix sous." 
 
 " No, I expect cash for t : I never dicker away 
 my sugar. But, seeing that it s you, Mounsher," 
 said Billy, with a coaxing smile, " I ll agree to take 
 a gallon of rum, and cloth enough for two shirts, if 
 you will take the molasses in the bargain. It s raal 
 good. I wouldn t deceive you or any man : and 
 to my drinking it s about the best molasses I ever 
 seed come out of a sugar-bush." 
 
 " Mr. Le Quoi has offered you ten pence," said 
 young Edwards. 
 
 The manufacturer stared at the speaker, with an 
 air of great freedom, but made no reply. 
 
 " Oui," said the Frenchman, " ten penny. Je 
 vous remercie, Monsieur : ah ! mon Anglois ! je 
 1 oublie toujours." 1 " 
 
 The wood-chopper looked from one to the other, 
 with some displeasure : and evidently imbibed the 
 opinion that they were amusing themselves at his 
 expense. He seized the enormous ladle, which 
 was lying in one of his kettles, and began to stir 
 
THE PIONEERS. 299 
 
 the boiling liquid with great diligence. After a 
 moment passed in dipping the ladle full, and then 
 raising it on high, as the thick rich fluid fell hack 
 into the kettle, he suddenly gave it a whirl, as if to 
 cool what yet remained, and offered the bowl to 
 Mr. Le Quoi, saying 
 
 " Taste that, Mounsher, and I guess you will 
 say it is worth more than you offer. The molasses 
 itself would fetch twice the money." 
 
 The complaisant Frenchman, after several timid 
 efforts to trust his lips in contact with the bowl of 
 the ladle, got a good swallow of the scalding liquid. 
 He clapped his hand on his breast, and looked 
 most piteously at the ladies, for a single instant, 
 and then, to use the language of Billy, when he 
 afterwards recounted the tale, " no drumsticks ever 
 went faster on the skin of a sheep, than the French 
 man s legs, for a round or two : and then, such 
 swearing and spitting, in French, you never seen. 
 But it s a knowing one, from the old countries, that 
 thinks to get his jokes smoothly over a Yankee 
 wood-chopper." 
 
 The air of innocence with which Kirby resumed 
 /he occupation of stirring the contents of his kettle, 
 would have completely deceived the spectators, as 
 to his agency in the temporary suffering of Mr. Le 
 Quoi, had not the reckless feflow thrust his tongue 
 into his cheek, and cast his eyes over the party, 
 with a simplicity of expression that was too ex 
 quisite to be true to nature. Mr. Le Quoi soon 
 recovered his presence of mind, and his decorum ; 
 he briefly apologized to the ladies for one or two 
 very intemperate expressions, that had escaped him 
 in a moment of extraordinary excitement, and re 
 mounting his horse, he continued in the back 
 ground during the remainder of their visit, the wv 
 of Kirby putting a violent termination, at once, to 
 
300 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 all negotiations on the subject of trade. During 
 all this time, Marmaduke had been wandering 
 about the grove, making his observations on his 
 favourite trees, and the wasteful manner in which 
 the wood-chopper conducted his manufacture. 
 
 " It grieves me to witness the extravagance that 
 pervades this country," said the Judge, " where 
 the settlers trifle with the blessings they might en 
 joy, with the prodigality of successful adventurers. 
 You are not exempt from the censure yourself, 
 Kirby, for you make dreadful wounds in these 
 trees, where a small incision would effect the same 
 object. I earnestly beg you will remember, that 
 they are the growth of centuries, and when once 
 gone, none living will see their loss remedied." 
 
 " Why, I don t know, Judge," returned the man 
 he addressed : " It seems to me, if there s a plenty 
 of any thing in this mountaynious country, it s the 
 trees. If there s any sin in chopping them, I ve a 
 pretty heavy account to settle ; for I ve chopped 
 over the best half of a thousand acres, with my 
 own hands, counting both Varmount and York 
 states ; and I hope to live to finish the whull, be 
 fore I lay up my axe. Chopping comes quite na- 
 teral to me, and I wish no other empl yment; but 
 Jared Ransom said that he thought the sugar was 
 likely to be scurce this season, seeing that so ma 
 ny folks was coming into the settlement, and so I 
 concluded to take the bush on sheares, for this 
 one spring. What s the best news, Judge, con- 
 sarning ashes ? do pots hold so that a man can live 
 by them still ? I s pose that they will if they keep 
 on fighting." 
 
 " Thou reasonest with judgment, William," re 
 turned Marmaduke. "So long as the old world 
 is to be convulsed with wars, so long will the har 
 vest in America continue." 
 
THE PIONEERS* 301 
 
 " Well, it s an ill wind, Judge, that blows no 
 body any good. I m sure the country is in a thriv 
 ing way ; and, though I know you calkilate greatly 
 on the trees, setting as much store by them as 
 some men would by their children, yet, to my 
 eyes they are a sore sight at any time, unless I m 
 privileged to work my will on them; in which 
 case, I can t say but they are more to my liking, 
 I have heern the settlers from the old countries 
 say, that their rich men keep great oaks and elms, 
 that w r ould make a barrel of pots to the tree, stand 
 ing round their doors and humsteads, and scattered 
 over their farms, just to look on. Now, I call no 
 country much improved, that is pretty well cover 
 ed with trees. Stumps are a different thing, for 
 they don t shade the land ; and besides, if you dig 
 them, they make a fence that will turn any thing 
 bigger than a hog, being grand for breachy cattle." 
 
 " Our notions on such subjects vary much, in 
 different countries," said Marmaduke ; " but it is 
 not as ornaments that I value the noble trees of 
 this country ; it is for their usefulness. We are 
 stripping the forests, as if a single year would re 
 place what we destroy. But the hour approaches, 
 when the laws will take notice of not only the 
 woods but the game they contain also." 
 
 With this consoling reflection, Marmaduke re 
 mounted, and the equestrians passed the sugar- 
 camp, on their way to the promised landscape of 
 Richard. The wood-chopper was left alone, in 
 the bosom of the forest, to pursue his labours. Eli 
 zabeth turned her head, when they reached the 
 point where they were to descend the mountain, 
 and thought that the slow fires, that were glimmering 
 under his enormous kettles, his little brush shelter, 
 covered with pieces of hemlock bark, his gigantic 
 size, as he wielded his ladle with a steady and 
 26 
 
302 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 knowing air, aided by the back-ground of stately 
 trees, with their spouts and troughs, formed, alto 
 gether, no unreal picture of human life in its first 
 stages of civilization. Perhaps whatever the scene 
 possessed of a romantic character was not injured 
 by the powerful tones of Kirby s voice, ringing 
 through the woods, as he again awoke his strains 
 to another tune, which was but little more scien 
 tific than the former. All that she understood of 
 the words, were 
 
 " And when the proud forest is falling 
 To my oxen cheerfully calling, 
 From morn until night I am bawling 
 
 Woe, back there, and hoy and gee ; 
 Till our labour is mutually ended, 
 By my strength and cattle befriended, 
 And against the musquitoes defended, 
 
 By the bark of the walnut-tree. 
 
 " Away ! then, you lads who would buy land 
 Choose the oak that grows on the high laui, 
 Or the silvery pine on the dry land, 
 It matter? but little to ma 
 
CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 Speed I Malise, speed I such cause of haste 
 Thine active sinews never brac d." 
 
 Scott. 
 
 THE roads of Otsego, if we except the principal 
 highways, were, at the early day of our tale, but 
 little better than wood-paths of unusual width. 
 The high trees that were growing on the very 
 verge of the wheel-tracks excluded the sun s rays, 
 unless at meridian, and the slowness of the evapo 
 ration, united with the rich mould of vegetable de 
 composition, that covered the whole country, to the 
 depth of several inches, occasioned but an indiffer 
 ent foundation for the footing of travellers. Added 
 to these, there were the inequalities of a natural 
 surface, and the constant recurrence of enormous 
 and slippery roots, that were laid bare by the re 
 moval of the light soil, together with stumps of 
 trees, to make a passage not only difficult but dan 
 gerous. Yet the riders, among these numerous 
 obstructions, which were such as would terrify an 
 unpractised eye, gave no demonstrations of unea 
 siness, as their horses toiled through the sloughs, 
 or trotted with uncertain paces along their dark 
 route. In many places, the marks on the trees 
 were the only indications of a road, with, perhaps, 
 an occasional remnant of pine, that, by being cut 
 
304 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 close to the earth, so as leave nothing visible but 
 its base of roots, spreading for twenty feet in every 
 direction, was apparently placed there as a beacon, 
 to warn the traveller that it was the centre of the 
 highway. 
 
 Into one of these roads the active Sheriff led the 
 way, first striking out of the footpath, by which 
 they had descended from the sugar-bush, across 
 a little bridge, formed of round logs laid loosely on 
 sleepers of pine, in which large openings were fre 
 quent, and in one instance, of a formidable width. 
 The nag of Richard, when it reached this barrier, 
 laid its nose along the logs, and stepped across the 
 difficult passage with the sagacity of a man ; but 
 the blooded filly which Miss Temple rode disdain 
 ed so humble a movement. She made a step or 
 two with an unusual caution, and then on reaching 
 the broadest opening, obedient to the curb and 
 whip of her fearless mistress, she bounded across 
 the dangerous pass with the activity of a squirrel. 
 
 " Gently, gently, my child," said Marmaduke, 
 who was following in the manner of Richard 
 " this is not a country for equestrian feats. Much 
 prudence is requisite to journey through our rough 
 paths with safety. Thou mayst practise thy skill 
 in horsemanship on the plains of New-Jersey with 
 safety, but in the hills of Otsego they must be sus 
 pended for a time." 
 
 " I may as well, then, relinquish my saddle at 
 once, dear sir," returned his daughter; " for if it is 
 to be laid aside until this wild country be improved, 
 old age will overtake me, and put an end to what 
 you term my equestrian feats." 
 
 " Say not so, my child," returned her father ; 
 "but if thou venturest again, as in crossing this 
 bridge, old age will never overtake thee, but I 
 shall be left to mourn thee, cut off in thy pride, 
 
THE PIONEERS. 305 
 
 my Elizabeth. If thou hadst seen this district of 
 country, as I did, when it lay in the sleep of na 
 ture, and witnessed its rapid changes, as it awoke 
 to supply the wants of man, thou wouldst curb thy 
 impatience for a little time, though thou shouldst 
 not check thy steed." 
 
 " I have a remembrance of hearing you speak, 
 sir, of your first visit to these woods, but the recol 
 lection of it is faint, and blended with the confused 
 images of childhood. Wild and unsettled as it may 
 yet seem, it must have been a thousand times 
 more dreary then. Will you repeat, dear sir, 
 what you then thought of your enterprise, and 
 what you felt ?" 
 
 During this speech of Elizabeth, which was ut 
 tered with the interested fervour of affection, 
 young Edwards rode more closely to the side of 
 the Judge, and bent his dark eyes on his counte 
 nance with an expression that seemed to read his 
 thoughts. 
 
 " Thou wast then young, my child, but must re 
 member when I left thee and thy mother, to take 
 my first survey of these uninhabited mountains,"- 
 said Marmaduke. " But thou dost not feel all the 
 secret motives that can urge a man to endure pri 
 vations in order to accumulate wealth. In my 
 case they have not been trifling, and God has been 
 pleased to smile on my efforts. If I have encoun 
 tered pain, famine, and disease, in accomplishing 
 the settlement of this rough territory, I have not 
 the misery of failure to add to the grievances." 
 
 " Famine !" echoed Elizabeth ; " I thought this 
 was the land of abundance ! had you famine to 
 contend with ?" 
 
 " Even so, my child," said her father. " Those 
 who look around them now, and see the loads of 
 j> -iuce that issue out of every wild path in these 
 26* 
 
306 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 mountains, during the season of travelling, wiL 
 hardly credit that no more than five years have 
 elapsed, since the tenants of these woods were 
 compelled to eat the scanty fruits of the forest to 
 sustain life, and, with their unpractised skill, to 
 hunt the beasts as food for their starving families." 
 
 " Ay !" cried Richard, who happened to over 
 hear the last of this speech, between the notes of 
 the wood-chopper s song, which he was endeavour 
 ing to breathe aloud ; " that was the starving-time, 
 cousin Bess. I grew as lank as a weasel that fall, 
 and my face was as pale as one of your fever-and- 
 ague visages. Monsieur Le Quoi, there, fell away 
 like a pumpkin in drying ; nor do I think you have 
 got fairly over it yet, Monsieur. Benjamin, I 
 thought, bore it with a worse grace than any of 
 the family, for he swore it was harder to endure 
 than a short allowance in the calm latitudes. Ben 
 jamin is a sad fellow to swear, if you starve him 
 ever so little. I had half a mind to quit you then, 
 duke, and go into Pennsylvania to fatten ; but, 
 damn it, thinks I, we are sisters children, and I 
 will live or die with him, after all." 
 
 " I do not forget thy kindness," said Marma- 
 duke, " nor that we are of one blood." 
 
 " But, my dear father," cried the wondering 
 Elizabeth, " was there actual suffering ? where 
 were the beautiful and fertile vales of the Mo 
 hawk ? could they not furnish food for your 
 wants ?" 
 
 " It was a season of scarcity ; the necessities of 
 life commanded a high price in Europe, and were 
 greedily sought after by the speculators. The 
 emigrants, from the east to the west, invariably 
 passed along the valley of the Mohawk, and swept 
 away the means of subsistence, like a swarm of 
 locusts. Nor were the people on the Flats in a 
 
THE PIONEERS. 30? 
 
 much better condition. They were in want them 
 selves, but they spared the little excess of provi 
 sions, that nature did not absolutely require, with 
 the justice of the German character. There was 
 no grinding of the poor. The word speculator was 
 then unknown to them. I have seen many a stout 
 man, bending under the load of the bag of meal, 
 which he was carrying from the mills of the Mo 
 hawk, through the rugged passes of these moun 
 tains, to feed his half-famished children, with a 
 heart so light, as he approached his hut, that the 
 thirty miles he had passed seemed nothing. Re 
 member, my child, it was in our very infancy ; we 
 had neither mills, nor grain, nor roads, nor often 
 clearings ; we had nothing of increase, but the 
 mouths that were to be fed ; for, even at that in 
 auspicious moment, the restless spirit of emigra 
 tion was not I lie ; nay, the general scarcity, which 
 extended to the east, tended to increase the num 
 ber of adventurers." 
 
 " And how, dearest father, didst thou encounter 
 this dreadful evil ?" said Elizabeth, unconsciously 
 adopting the dialect of her parent in the warmth 
 of her sympathy. " Upon thee must have fallen 
 all the responsibility, if not the suffering." 
 
 " It did, Elizabeth," returned the Judge, pausing 
 for a single moment, as if musing on his former 
 feelings. " I had hundreds, at that dreadful time, 
 daily looking up to me for bread. The sufferings 
 of their families, and the gloomy prospect before 
 them, had paralysed the enterprise and efforts of 
 my settlers ; hunger drove them to the woods for 
 food, but despair sent them, at night, enfeebled and 
 wan, to a sleepless pillow. It was not a moment 
 for inaction. I purchased cargoes of wheat from 
 the granaries of Pennsylvania ; they were landed 
 at Albany, and brought up the Mohawk in boats ; 
 
308 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 from thence it was transported on pack-horses into 
 the wilderness, and distributed among my people. 
 Seines were made, and the lakes and rivers were 
 dragged foi fish. Something like a miracle was 
 wrought in our favour, for enormous shoals of her 
 ring were discovered to have wandered five hun 
 dred miles, through the windings of the impetuous 
 Susquehanna, and the lake was alive with their 
 lumbers. These were at length caught, and dealt 
 out to the people, with proper portions of salt : 
 and from that moment we again began to pros 
 per." 
 
 " Yes," cried Richard, " and I was the man who 
 served out both the fish and the salt. When the 
 poor devils came to receive their rations, Benja 
 min, who was my deputy, was obliged to keep 
 them off by stretching ropes around me, for they 
 smelt so of garlic, from eating nothing but the wild 
 onion, that the fumes put me out, often, in my 
 measurement. You were a child then, Bess, and 
 knew nothing of the matter, for great care was ob 
 served to keep both you and your mother from 
 suffering. That year put me back, dreadfully, both 
 in the breed of my hogs, and of my turkeys." 
 
 " No, Bess," cried the Judge, in a more cheer 
 ful tone, utterly disregarding the interruption of his 
 cousin, " he who hears of the settlement of a coun 
 try knows but little of the actual toil and suffer 
 ing by which it is accomplished. Unimproved 
 and wild as this district now seems to your eyes, 
 what was it when I first entered the hills ! I left 
 my party, the morning of my arrival, back near 
 the farms of the Cherry Valley, and, following a 
 deer-path, rode to the summit of the mountain, that 
 I have since called Mount Vision ; for the sight 
 that there met my eyes seemed to me as the de 
 ceptions of a dream. The fire had run over the 
 
THE PIONEERS. 309 
 
 pinnacle, and, in a great measure, laid open the 
 view. The leaves were fallen, and I mounted a 
 tree, and sat for an hour looking on the silent wil 
 derness. Not an opening was to be seen in the 
 boundless forest, except where the lake lay, like a 
 mirror of glass. The water was covered by myri 
 ads of the wild-fowl that migrate with the changes 
 in the season ; and, while in my situation on the 
 branch of the beech, I saw a bear, with her cubs, 
 descend to the shore to drink. I had met many 
 deer, gliding through the woods, in my journey ; 
 but not the vestige of a man could I trace, during 
 my progress, nor from my elevated observatory. 
 No clearing, no hut, none of the winding roads that 
 are now to be seen, were there, nothing but moun 
 tains rising behind mountains, and the valley, with 
 its surface of branches, enlivened here and there 
 with the faded foliage of some tree, that parted 
 from its leaves with more than ordinary reluctance. 
 Even the little Susquehanna was then hid, by the 
 height and density of the forest." 
 
 " And were you there alone ?" asked Eliza 
 beth ; " passed you the night in that solitary state ?" 
 
 " Not so, my child," returned her father. " Af 
 ter musing on the scene for an hour, with a min 
 gled feeling of pleasure and desolation, I left my 
 perch and descended the mountain. My horse 
 was left to browse on the twigs that grew within 
 his reach, while I explored the shores of the lake, 
 and the spot where Templeton stands. A pine of 
 more than ordinary growth stood where my dwell 
 ing is now placed ! a wind-row had been opened 
 through the trees from thence to the lake, and my 
 view was but little impeded. Under the branches 
 of that tree I made my solitary dinner ; I had just 
 finished my repast as I saw a smoke curling froir 
 
310 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 under the mountain, near the eastern bank of the 
 lake. It was the only indication of the vicinity of 
 man that I had then seen. After much toil I made 
 my way to the spot, and found a rough cabin of 
 logs, built against the foot of a rock, and bearing 
 the marks of a tenant, though I found no one with 
 in it" 
 
 " It was the hut of Leather-stocking," said Ed 
 wards, quickly. 
 
 " It was ; though I, at first, supposed it to be a 
 habitation of the Indians. But while I was linger 
 ing around the spot, Natty made his appearance, 
 staggering under the load of the carcass of a buck 
 that he had slain. Our acquaintance commenced 
 at that time ; before, I had never heard that such 
 a being tenanted the woods. He launched his 
 bark canoe, and set me across the foot of the lake, 
 to the place where I had fastened my horse, and 
 pointed out a spot where he might get a scanty 
 browsing until the morning ; when I returned and 
 passed the night in the cabin of the hunter." 
 
 Miss Temple was so much struck by the deep 
 attention of young Edwards, during this speech, 
 that she forgot to resume her interrogatories ; but 
 the youth himself continued the discourse, by ask 
 ing, with a smile lurking around his features 
 
 " And how did the Leather-stocking discharge 
 the duties of a host, sir ?" 
 
 " Why, simply but kindly, until late in the even 
 ing, when he discovered my name and object, and 
 the cordiality of his manner very sensibly dimi 
 nished, or, I might better say, disappeared. He 
 considered the introduction of the settlers as an 
 innovation on his rights, I believe ; for he express 
 ed much dissatisfaction at the measure, though it 
 was in his confused and ambiguous manner. I 
 
THE PIONEERS. 311 
 
 hardly understood his objections myself, but sup 
 pose they referred chiefly to an interruption of the 
 hunting." 
 
 " Had you then purchased the estate, or were 
 you examining it with an intent to buy ?" asked 
 Edwards, a little abruptly. 
 
 " It had been mine for several years. It was 
 with a view to people the land that I visited the 
 lake. Natty treated me hospitably, but coldly, I 
 thought, after he learnt the nature of my journey. 
 I slept on his own bear-skin, however, and in the 
 morning joined my surveyors again." 
 
 " Said he nothing of the Indian rights, sir ?" 
 continued Edwards. " The Leather-stocking is 
 much given to impeach the justice of the tenure by 
 which the whites hold the country." 
 
 " I remember that he spoke of them, but I did 
 not clearly comprehend him, and may have for 
 gotten what he then said ; for the Indian title was 
 extinguished so far back as the close of the old 
 war ; and if it had not been at all, I hold under the 
 patents of the Royal Governors, confirmed by an 
 act of our own State Legislature, and no court in 
 our country can affect my title." 
 
 " Doubtless, sir, your title is both legal and 
 equitable," returned the youth, coldly, reigning his 
 horse back, and remaining silent till the subject 
 was changed. 
 
 It was seldom that Mr. Jones suffered any con 
 versation to continue, for a great length of time, 
 without his participation. It seems that he was of 
 the party that Judge Temple had designated as his 
 surveyors ; and he embraced the opportunity of 
 the pause that succeeded the retreat of young Ed 
 wards, to take up the discourse, and with it a nar 
 ration of their further proceedings, after his owe 
 manner. As it wanted, however, the interest that 
 
312 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 had accompanied the description of the Judge, we 
 must decline the task of committing his sentences 
 to paper. 
 
 They soon reached the point where the pro 
 mised view was to be seen. It was one of those 
 picturesque and peculiar scenes that belong to the 
 Otsego, but which required the absence of the ice, 
 and the softness of a summer s landscape, to be en 
 joyed in all its beauty. Marmaduke had early fore 
 warned his daughter of the season and of its effect 
 on the prospect, and after casting a cursory glance 
 at its capabilities, the party returned homeward, 
 perfectly satisfied that its beauties would repay 
 them for the toil of a second ride, at a more propi 
 tious season. 
 
 " The spring is the gloomy time of the Ameri 
 can year," said the Judge ; " and it is more pecu 
 liarly the case in these mountains. The winter 
 seems to retreat to the fastnesses of the hills, as 
 to the citadel of its dominion, and is only expel 
 led, after a tedious siege, in which either party, 
 at times, would seem to be gaining the victory." 
 
 " A very just and apposite figure, Judge Tem 
 ple," observed the Sheriff; " and the garrison un 
 der the command of Jack Frost made formidable 
 sorties you understand what I mean by sorties, 
 Monsieur; sallies, in English and sometimes 
 drive General Spring and his troops back again 
 into the low countries." 
 
 " Yes, sair," returned the Frenchman, whose pro 
 minent eyes were watching the precarious foot 
 steps of the beast he rode, as it picked its dan 
 gerous way among the roots of trees,, holes, log- 
 bridges, and sloughs that formed the aggregate of 
 the highway. " Je vous entend ; de low countrie, 
 it ees freeze up for half de year." 
 
 The error of Mr. Le Quoi was not noticed by the 
 
THE PIONEERS. 313 
 
 Sheriff; and the rest of the party were yielding to 
 the influence of the changeful season, that was al 
 ready teaching the equestrians that a continuance 
 of its mildness was not to be expected for any 
 length of time. Silence and thoughtfulness suc 
 ceeded the gayety and conversation that had pre 
 vailed during the commencement of their ride, as 
 clouds began to gather about the heavens, appa 
 rently collecting from every quarter, in quick mo 
 tion, without the agency of a breath of air. 
 
 While riding over one of the cleared eminences 
 that occurred in their route, the watchful eye of 
 Judge Temple pointed out to his daughter the ap 
 proach of a tempest. Flurries of snow already ob 
 scured the mountain that formed the northern 
 boundary of the lake, and the genial sensation 
 which had quickened the blood through their veins 
 was already succeeded by the deadening influence 
 of an approaching north-wester. 
 
 All of the party were now busily engaged in 
 making the best of their way to the village, though 
 the badness of the roads frequently compelled them 
 to check the impatience of their animals, which of 
 ten carried them over places that would not admit 
 of any gait faster than a walk. 
 
 Richard continued in advance, and was followed 
 by Mr. Le Quoi ; next to whom rode Elizabeth, 
 who seemed to have imbibed the distance which 
 pervaded the manner of young Edwards, since the 
 termination of the discourse between the latter and 
 her father. Marmaduke followed his daughter, 
 giving her frequent and tender warnings as to her 
 safety and the management of her horse. It was, 
 possibly, the evident dependence that Louisa Grant 
 placed on his assistance, which induced the youth 
 to continue by her side, as they pursued their way 
 through a dreary and dark wood, where the rays 
 27 
 

 314 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 of the sun could but rarely penetrate, and where 
 even the daylight was obscured and rendered 
 gloomy by the deep forests that surrounded them. 
 No wind had yet reached the spot where the 
 equestrians were in motion, but that dead stillness 
 that often precedes a storm, contributed to render 
 their situation more irksome than if they were al 
 ready subjected to the fury of the tempest. Sud 
 denly the voice of young Edwards was heard 
 shouting, in those appalling tones that carry alarm 
 to the very soul, and which curdle the blood of 
 those that hear them 
 
 " A tree ! a tree ! whip spur for your lives ! a 
 tree ! a tree !" 
 
 " A tree ! a tree !" echoed Richard, giving his 
 horse a blow that caused the alarmed beast to jump 
 nearly a rod, throwing the mud and water into the 
 air, like a hurricane. 
 
 " Von tree ! von tree !" shouted the French 
 man, bending his body on the neck of his charger, 
 shutting his eyes, and playing on the ribs of his 
 beast with his heels, at a rate that caused him to be 
 conveyed on the crupper of the Sheriff, with a 
 marvellous speed. 
 
 Elizabeth checked her filly, and looked up, with 
 an unconscious but alarmed air, at the very cause 
 of their danger, while she listened to the crackling 
 sounds that awoke the stillness of the forest ; but 
 the next instant, her bridle was seized by her fa 
 ther, who cried 
 
 " God protect my child !" and she felt herself 
 hurried onward, impelled by the vigour of his 
 nervous arm. 
 
 Each one of the party bowed to their saddle 
 bows, as the tearing of branches was succeeded by 
 a sound like the rushing of the winds, which was 
 followed by a thundering report, and a shock that 
 
THE PIONEERS. 315 
 
 caused the very earth to tremble, as one of the no 
 blest ruins in the forest fell directly across their 
 path. 
 
 One glance was enough to assure Judge Tem 
 ple that his daughter and those in front of him, 
 were safe, and he turned his eyes, in dreadful anx 
 iety, to learn the fate of the others. Young Ed 
 wards was on the opposite side of the tree, with 
 his form thrown back in his saddle to its utmost 
 distance, his left hand drawing up his bridle with 
 its greatest force, while the right grasped that of 
 Miss Grant, so as to draw the head of her horse 
 under its body. Both the animals stood shaking 
 in every joint with terror, and snorting fearfully. 
 The maiden herself had relinquished her reins, and 
 with her hands pressed on her face sat bending 
 forward in her saddle, in an attitude of despair 
 mingled strangely with resignation. 
 
 " Are you safe ?" cried the Judge, first breaking 
 the awful silence of the moment. 
 
 " By God s blessing," returned the youth ; " but 
 if there had been branches to the tree we must 
 have been lost " 
 
 He was interrupted by the figure of Louisa, 
 slowly yielding in her saddle ; and but for his arm, 
 she would have sunken to the earth. Terror, 
 however, was the only injury that the clergyman s 
 daughter had sustained, and with the aid of Eliza 
 beth, she was soon restored to her senses. After 
 some little time was lost in recovering her strength, 
 the young lady was replaced in her saddle, and, 
 supported on either side by Judge Temple and Mr, 
 Edwards, she was enabled to follow the party in 
 their slow progress. 
 
 " The sudden falling of the trees," said Marma- 
 duke, " are the most dangerous of our accidents in 
 the forest, for they are not to be foreseen, being 
 
316 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 impelled by no winds, nor any extraneous or visi 
 ble cause, against which we can guard." 
 
 " The reason of their falling, Judge Temple, is 
 very obvious," said the Sheriff. " The tree is ild 
 and decayed, and it is gradually weakened by the 
 frosts, until a line drawn from the centre of gravity 
 falls without its base, and then the tree comes of 
 a certainty; and I should like to know, what 
 greater compulsion there can be for any thing, than 
 a mathematical certainty. I studied mathe " 
 
 " Very true, Richard," interrupted Marmaduke ; 
 " thy reasoning is true, and if my memory be not 
 over treacherous, was furnished by myself on a 
 former occasion. But how is one to guard against 
 the danger ? canst thou go through the forests, 
 measuring the bases, and calculating the centres 
 of the oaks ? answer me that, friend Jones, and I 
 will say thou wilt do the country a service." 
 
 (C Answer thee that, friend Temple !" returned 
 Richard ; " a well-educated man can answer thee 
 any thing, sir. Do any trees fall in this manner, 
 but such as are decayed ? Take care not to ap 
 proach the roots of any rotten trees, and you will 
 be safe enough." 
 
 " That would be excluding us entirely from the 
 forests," said Marmaduke. " But, happily, the 
 winds usually force down most of these dangerous 
 ruins, as their currents are admitted into the woods 
 by the surrounding clearings, and such a fall as this 
 has been is very rare." 
 
 Louisa, by this time, had recovered so much of 
 her strength, as to allow the party to proceed at a 
 quicker pace ; but long before they were safely 
 housed, they were overtaken by the storm ; and 
 when they dismounted at the door of the Mansion- 
 house, the black plumes of Miss Temple s hat 
 were drooping with the weight of a load of damp 
 
THE PIONEERS. 317 
 
 snow, and the coats of the gentlemen were pow 
 dered with the same material. 
 
 While Edwards was assisting Louisa from her 
 horse, the warm-hearted girl caught his hand with 
 fervour, and whispered 
 
 " Now, Mr. Edwards, both father and daughter 
 owe their lives to you." 
 
 A driving, northwesterly storm succeeded ; and 
 before the sun was set, every vestige of spring had 
 vanished ; the lake, the mountains, the village, and 
 the fields, being again hid under one dazzling coat 
 of snow. 
 
 27* 
 
CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 " Men, boyi, and girls, 
 
 Desert th unpeopled village ; and wild crowds 
 Spread o er the plain, by the sweet frenzy driven. 1 " 
 
 Somerville 
 
 FROM this time to the close of April, the wea 
 ther continued to be a succession of great and ra 
 pid changes. One day, the soft airs of spring 
 would seem to be stealing along the valley, and, 
 in unison with an invigorating sun, attempting, co 
 vertly, to rouse the dormant powers of the vegeta 
 ble world ; while on the next, the surly blasts from 
 the north would sweep across the lake, and erase 
 every impression left by their gentte adversaries. 
 The snow, however, finally disappeared, and the 
 green wheat fields were seen in every direction, 
 spotted with the dark and charred stumps that had, 
 the preceding season, supported some of the proud 
 est trees of the forest. Ploughs were in motion, 
 wherever those useful implements could be used, 
 and the smokes of the sugar-camps were no longer 
 seen issuing from the summits of the woods of ma 
 ple. The lake had lost all the characteristic beau 
 ty of & field of ice, but still a dark and gloomy co 
 vering concealed its waters, for the absence of cur 
 rents left them yet hid under a porous crust, which, 
 saturated with the fluid, barely retained enough of 
 its strength to preserve the contiguity of its parts 
 
THE PIONEERS. 319 
 
 Large flocks of wild geese were seen passing over 
 the country, which hovered, for a time, around the 
 hidden sheet of water, apparently searching for an 
 opening, where they might find a resting-place ; 
 and then, on finding themselves excluded by the 
 chill covering, would soar away to the north, filling 
 the air with their discordant screams, as if venting 
 their complaints at the tardy operations of nature. 
 For a week, the dark covering of the Otsego was 
 eft to the undisturbed possession of two eagles, 
 who alighted on the centre of its field, and sat 
 proudly eyeing the extent of their undisputed ter 
 ritory. During the presence of these monarchs of 
 the air, the flocks of migrating birds avoided cross 
 ing the plain of ice, by turning into the hills, appa 
 rently seeking the protection of the forests, while 
 the white and bald heads of the tenants of the lake 
 were turned upward, with a look of majestic con 
 tempt, as if penetrating to the very heavens with 
 the acuteness of their vision. But the time had 
 come, when even these kings of birds were to be 
 dispossessed. An opening had been gradually in 
 creasing, at the lower extremity of the lake, and 
 around the dark spot where the current of the river 
 had prevented the formation of ice, during even 
 the coldest weather ; and the fresh southerly 
 winds, that now breathed freely up the valley, ob 
 tained an impression on the waters. Mimic waves 
 began to curl over the margin of the frozen field, 
 which exhibited an outline of crystallizations, that 
 slowly receded towards the north. At each step 
 the power of the winds and the waves increased, 
 until, after a struggle of a few hours, the turbulent 
 little billows succeeded in setting the whole field 
 in an undulating motion, when it was driven be 
 yond the reach of the eye, with a rapidity that was 
 as magical as the change produced in the scene by 
 
320 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 this expulsion of the lingering remnant of winter* 
 Just as the last sheet of agitated ice was disappear 
 ing in the distance, the eagles rose over the border 
 of crystals, and soared with a wide sweep far above 
 the clouds, while the waves tossed their little caps 
 of snow into the air, as if rioting in their release 
 from a thraldom of five months duration. 
 
 The following morning Elizabeth was awakened 
 by the exhilarating sounds of the martins, who 
 v/ere quarrelling and chattering around the little 
 boxes that were suspended above her windows, 
 and the cries of Richard, who was calling, in tones 
 as animating as the signs of the season itself 
 
 " Awake ! awake ! my lady fair ! the gulls are 
 hovering over the lake already, and the heavens 
 are alive with the pigeons. You may look an hour 
 before you can find a hole, through which to get a 
 peep at the sun. Awake ! awake ! lazy ones 1 
 Benjamin is overhauling the ammunition, and we 
 only wait for our breakfasts, and away for the 
 mountains and pigeon shooting." 
 
 There was no resisting this animated appeal, and 
 in a few minutes Miss Temple and her friend de 
 scended to the parlour. The doors of the hall were 
 thrown open, and the mild, balmy air of a clear 
 spring morning was ventilating the apartment, 
 where the vigilance of the ex-steward had been 
 so long maintaining an artificial heat with* such un 
 remitted diligence. The gentlemen were impa 
 tiently waiting for their morning s repast, each be 
 mg equipt in the garb of a sportsman. Mr. Jones 
 made many visits to the southern door, and would 
 cry 
 
 " See, cousin Bess ! see, duke, the pigeon- 
 roosts of the south have broken up ! They are 
 growing more thick every instant. Here is a flock 
 that the eye cannot see the end of. There is food 
 
THE PIONEERS. 321 
 
 enough in it to keep the army of Xerxes for a 
 month, and feathers enough to make beds for the 
 whole county. Xerxes, Mr. Edwards, was a Gre 
 cian king, who no, he was a Turk, or a Persian, 
 who wanted to conquer Greece, just the same as 
 these rascals will overrun our wheat-fields, when 
 they come back in the fall. Away ! away ! Bess ; 
 I long to pepper them from the mountain." 
 
 In this wish both Marmaduke and young Ed 
 wards seemed equally to participate, for the sight 
 was most exhilarating to a sportsman ; and the la 
 dies soon dismissed the party, after a hasty break 
 fast. 
 
 If the heavens were alive with pigeons, the 
 whole village seemed equally in motion, with men, 
 women, and children. Every species of fire-arms, 
 from the French ducking-gun, with its barrel of 
 near six feet in length, to the common horseman s 
 pistol, was to be seen in the hands of the men and 
 boys ; while bows and arrows, some made of the 
 simple stick of a walnut sapling, and others in a 
 rude imitation of the ancient cross-bows, were car 
 ried by many of the latter. 
 
 The houses and the signs of life apparent in the 
 village, drove the alarmed birds from the direct 
 line of their flight, towards the mountains, along 
 the sides and near the bases of which they were 
 glancing in dense masses, that were equally won 
 derful by the rapidity of their motion, as by their 
 incredible numbers. 
 
 We have already said, that across the inclined 
 plane which fell from the steep ascent of the moun 
 tain to the banks of the Susquehanna, ran the high 
 way, on either side of which a clearing of many 
 acres had been made at a very early day. Over 
 those clearings, and up the eastern mountain, and 
 along the dangerous path tha ; was cut into its side. 
 
322 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 the different individuals posted themselves, as 
 suited their inclinations ; and in a few moments 
 the attack commenced. 
 
 Among the sportsmen was to be seen the tall,, 
 gaunt form of Leather-stocking, who was walking 
 over the field, with his rifle hanging on his arm, 
 his dogs following close at his heels, now scenting 
 the dead or wounded birds, that were beginning 
 to tumble from the flocks, and then crouching un 
 der the legs of their master, as if they participated 
 in his feelings at this wasteful and unsportsmanlike 
 execution. 
 
 The reports of the fire-arms became rapid, whole 
 volleys rising from the plain, as flocks of more than 
 ordinary numbers darted over the opening, cover 
 ing the field with darkness, like an interposing 
 cloud ; and then the light smoke of a single piece 
 would issue from among the leafless bushes on the 
 mountain, as death was hurled on the retreat of the 
 affrighted birds, who were rising from a volley, for 
 many feet into the air, in a vain effort to escape 
 the attacks of man. Arrows, and missiles of every 
 kind, were seen in the midst of the flocks ; and so 
 numerous were the birds, and so low did they take 
 their flight, that even long poles, in the hands of 
 those on the sides of the mountain, were used to 
 strike them to the earth. 
 
 During all this time, Mr. Jones, who disdained 
 the humble and ordinary means of destruction used 
 by his companions, was busily occupied, aided by 
 Benjamin, in making arrangements for an assault 
 of a more than ordinarily fatal character. Among 
 the relics of the old military excursions, that occa 
 sionally are discovered throughout the different 
 districts of the western part of New- York, there 
 had been found in Templeton, at its settlement, a 
 swivel, which would carry a ball of a pound 
 
THE PIONEERS. 323 
 
 weight. It was thought to have been deserted by 
 a war-party of the whites, in one of their inroads 
 into the Indian settlements, when, perhaps their 
 convenience or their necessities induced them to 
 leave such an incumbrance behind them in the 
 woods. This miniature cannon had been released 
 from the rust, and being mounted on little wheels, 
 was now in a state for actual service. For several 
 years, it was the sole organ for extraordinary re 
 joicings that was used in those mountains. On the 
 mornings of the Fourths of July, it would be heard, 
 with its echoes ringing among the hills, and telling 
 forth its sounds, for thirteen times, with all the 
 dignity of a two-and-thirty pounder ; and even 
 Captain Hollister, who was the highest authority 
 in that part of the country on all such occasions, 
 affirmed that, considering its dimensions, it was no 
 despicable gun for a salute. It was somewhat the 
 worse for the service it had performed, it is true, 
 there being but a trifling difference in size between 
 the touch-hole and the muzzle. Still, the grand 
 conceptions of Richard had suggested the impor 
 tance of such an instrument, in hurling death at 
 his nimble enemies. The swivel was dragged by 
 a horse into a part of the open space, that the She 
 riff thought most eligible for planting a battery of 
 the kind, and Mr. Pump proceeded to load it. 
 Several handfuls of duck-shot were placed on top 
 of the powder, and the Major-domo soon announced 
 that his piece was ready for service. 
 
 The sight of such an implement collected all the 
 idle spectators to the spot, who, being mostly boys, 
 filled the air with their cries of exultation and de 
 light. The gun was pointed on high, and Richard, 
 holding a coal of fire in a pair of tongs, patiently 
 took his seat on a stump, awaiting the appearance 
 of a flock that was worthy of his notice. 
 
324 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 So prodigious was the number of the birds, that 
 the scattering fire of the guns, with the hurling of 
 missiles, and the cries of the boys, had no other 
 effect than to break off small flocks from the im 
 mense masses that continued to dart along the val 
 ley, as if the whole creation of the feathered tribe 
 were pouring through that one pass. None pre 
 tended to collect the game, which lay .scattered 
 over the fields in such profusion as to cover the 
 very ground with the fluttering victims. 
 
 Leather-stocking was a silent, but uneasy spec 
 tator of all these proceedings, but was able to keep 
 his sentiments to himself until he saw the intro 
 duction of the swivel into the sports. 
 
 " This comes of settling a country !" he said 
 " here have I known the pigeons to fly for forty 
 long years, and, till you made your clearings, there 
 was nobody to skear or to hurt them. I loved to 
 see them come into the woods, for they were com 
 pany to a body ; hurting nothing ; being, as it was, 
 as harmless as a garter-snake. But now it gives 
 me sore thoughts when I hear the frighty things 
 whizzing through the air, for I know it s only a 
 motion to bring out all the brats in the village at 
 them. Well ! the Lord won t see the waste of his 
 creaters for nothing, and right will be done to the 
 pigeons, as well as others, by-and-by. There s 
 Mr. Oliver, as bad as the rest of them, firing into 
 the flocks as if he was shooting down nothing but 
 the Mingo warriors." 
 
 Among the sportsmen was Billy Kirby, who, 
 armed with an old musket, was loading, and with 
 out even looking into the air, was firing and shout 
 ing as his victims fell even on his own person. He 
 heard the speech of Natty, and took upon himself 
 to reply 
 
 " What s that; old Leather-stocking !" he cried. 
 
THE PIONEERS. 325 
 
 " grumbling at the loss of a few pigeons ! If you 
 had to sow your wheat twice, and three times, as 
 I have done, you wouldn t be so massy fully feel- 
 ing d to ards the divils. Hurrah, boys ! scatter 
 the feathers. This is better than shooting at a tur 
 key s head and neck, old fellow." 
 
 " It s better for you, maybe, Billy Kirby," re 
 plied the indignant old hunter, " and all them as 
 don t know how to put a ball down a rifle-barrel, 
 or how to bring it up ag n with a true aim ; but it s 
 wicked to be shooting into flocks in this wasty 
 manner ; and none do it, who know how to knock 
 over a single bird. If a body has a craving for 
 pigeon s flesh, why ! it s made the same as all other 
 creator s, for man s eating, but not to kill twenty 
 and eat one. When I want such a thing I go into 
 the woods till I find one to my liking, and then I 
 shoot him off the branches without touching a fea 
 ther of another, though there might be a hundred 
 on the same tree. But you couldn t do such a 
 thing, Billy Kirby you couldn t do it if you tried." 
 
 " What s that you say, you old, dried corn 
 stalk! you sapless stub !" cried the wood-chopper. 
 " You ve grown mighty boasting, sin you killed 
 the turkey ; but if you re for a single shot, here 
 goes at that bird which comes on by himself." 
 
 The fire from the distant part of the field had 
 driven a single pigeon below the flock to \*hich it 
 had belonged, and frightened with the constant re 
 ports of the muskets, it was approaching the spot 
 w r here the disputants stood, darting first from one 
 side, and then to the other, cutting the air with the 
 swiftness of lightning, and making a noise with its 
 wings, not unlike the rushing of a bullet. Unfor 
 tunately for the wood-chopper, notwithstanding his 
 vaunt, he did not see his bird until it was too late 
 for him to fire as it approached, and he pulled his 
 28 
 
326 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 trigger at the unlucky moment when it was dart 
 ing immediately over his head. The bird conti 
 nued its course with incredible velocity. 
 
 Natty lowered the rifle from his arm, when the 
 challenge was made, and, waiting a moment, until 
 the terrified victim had got in a line with his eyes, 
 and had dropped near the bank of the lake, he 
 raised it again with uncommon rapidity, and fired. 
 It might have been chance, or it might have been 
 skill, that produced the result ; it was probably a 
 union of both ; but the pigeon whirled over in the 
 air, and fell into the lake, with a broken wing. At 
 the sound of his rifle, both His dogs started from 
 his feet, and in a few minutes the " slut" brought 
 out the bird, still alive. 
 
 The wonderful exploit of Leather-stocking was 
 noised through the field with great rapidity, and 
 the sportsmen gathered in to learn the truth of the 
 report. 
 
 " What," said young Edwards, " have you real 
 ly killed a pigeon on the wing, Natty, with a single 
 ball ? 
 
 " Haven t I killed loons before now, lad, that 
 dive at the flash ?" returned the hunter. " It s 
 much better to kill only such as you want, with 
 out wasting y our powder and lead, than to be firing 
 into God s creaters in such a wicked manner. But 
 I comeout for a bird, and you know the reason 
 why I like small game, Mr. Oliver, and now I have 
 got one I will go home, for I don t relish to see 
 these wasty ways that you are all practysing, as if 
 the leasH;hing wasn t made for use, and not to de 
 stroy " 
 
 " Thou sayest well, Leather-stocking," cried 
 Marmaduke, " and I begin to think it time to put 
 an end to this work of destruction." 
 
 " Put an ind. Judge, to your clearings. An t 
 
THE PIONEERS. 327 
 
 the woods his work as well as the pigeons ? Use, 
 but don t waste. Wasn t the woods made for the 
 beasts and birds to harbour in ? and when man 
 wanted their flesh, their skins, or their feathers, 
 there s the place to seek them. But I ll go to the 
 hut with my own game, for I wouldn t touch one 
 of the harmless things that kiver the ground here, 
 looking up with their eyes on me, as if they only 
 wanted tongues to say their thoughts." 
 
 With this sentiment in his mouth, Leather-stock 
 ing threw his rifle over his arm, and followed by 
 his dogs, stepping across the clearing with great 
 caution, taking care Sot to tread on one of the 
 wounded birds that lay in his path. He soon en 
 tered the bushes on the margin of the lake, and 
 was hid from view. 
 
 Whatever impression the morality of Natty made 
 on the Judge, it was utterly lost on Richard. He 
 availed himself of the gathering of the sportsmen, 
 to lay a plan for one u fell swoop" of destruction. 
 The musket-men were drawn up in battle array, 
 in a line extending on each side of his artillery, 
 with orders to await the signal of firing from him 
 self. 
 
 " Stand by, my lads," said Benjamin, who acted 
 as an aid-de-camp on this momentous occasion, 
 " stand by, my hearties, and when Squire Dickens 
 heaves out the signal for to begin firing, d ye see, 
 you may open upon them in a broadside. Take 
 care and fire low, boys, and you ll be sure to hull 
 the flock." 
 
 " Fire low !" shouted Kirby " hear the old 
 fool ! If we fire low, we may hit the stumps, but 
 not ruffle a pigeon." 
 
 " How should you know, you lubber ?" cried 
 Benjamin, with a very unbecoming heat for an of 
 ficer on the eve of battle " how should you know, 
 
328 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 you grampus ? Haven t I sailed abciard of the 
 Boadishy for five years ? and wasn t it a standing 
 order to fire low, and to hull your enemy ? Keep 
 silence at your guns, boys, and mind the order that 
 is passed." 
 
 The loud laughs of the musket-men were si 
 lenced by the authoritative voice of Richard, who 
 called to them for attention and obedience to his 
 signals. 
 
 Some millions of pigeons were supposed to have 
 already passed, that morning, over the valley of 
 Templeton ; but nothing like the flock that was 
 now approaching had been seen before. It extend 
 ed from mountain to mountain in one solid blue 
 mass, and the eye looked in vain over the southern 
 hills to find its termination. The front of this liv 
 ing column was distinctly marked by a line but 
 very slightly indented, so regular and even was 
 the flight. Even Marmaduke forgot the morality of 
 Leather-stocking as it approached, and, in common 
 with the rest, brought his musket to his shoulder. 
 
 " Fire !" cried the Sheriff, clapping his coal to 
 the priming of the cannon. As half of Benjamin s 
 charge escaped through the touch-hole, the whole 
 volley of the musketry preceded the report of the 
 swivel. On receiving this united discharge of 
 small arms, the front of the flock darted upward, 
 while, at the same instant, myriads of those in their 
 rear rushed with amazing rapidity into their places, 
 so that when the column of white smoke gushed 
 from the mouth of the little cannon, an accumu 
 lated mass of objects was gliding over its point of 
 direction. The roar of the gun echoed along the 
 mountains, and died away to the north, like distant 
 thunder, while the whole flock of alarmed birds 
 seemed, for a moment, thrown into one disorderly 
 and agitated mass. The air was filled with their 
 
THE PIONEERS. 329 
 
 irregular flights, layer rising over layer, far above 
 the tops of the highest pines, none daring to ad 
 vance beyond the dangerous pass ; when, sudden 
 ly, some of the leaders of the feathered tribe shot 
 across the valley, taking their flight directly over 
 the village, and the hundreds of thousands in their 
 rear followed their example, deserting the eastern 
 side of the plain to their persecutors and their 
 fallen. 
 
 " Victory !" shouted Richard, " victory ! we 
 have driven the enemy from the field." 
 
 " Not so, Dickon," said Marmaduke ; "the field 
 is covered with them ; and, like the Leather- 
 stocking, I see nothing but eyes, in every direc 
 tion, as the innocent sufferers turn their heads, in 
 terror, to examine my movements. Full one half 
 of those that have fallen are yet alive : and I think 
 it is time to end the sport ; if sport it be." 
 
 "Sport!" cried the Sheriff; "it is princely 
 sport ! There are some thousands of the blue- 
 coated boys on the ground, so that every old wo 
 man in the village may have a pot-pie for the ask 
 ing." 
 
 " Well, we have happily frightened the birds 
 from this side the valley," said Marmaduke, " and 
 our carnage must of necessity end, for the present. 
 Boys, I will give you sixpence a hundred for the 
 pigeons heads only : so go to work, and bring 
 them into the village, where I will pay you." 
 
 This expedient produced the desired effect, for 
 every urchin on the ground went industriously to 
 work to wring the necks of the wounded birds. 
 Judge Temple retired towards his dwelling with 
 that kind of feeling, that many a man has experi 
 enced before him, who discovers, after the excite 
 ment of the moment has passed, that he has pur 
 chased p&n&sure at the price of misery to others. 
 28 * 
 
330 THE PIONEERS 
 
 Horses were loaded with the dead ; and, after the 
 first burst of sporting, the shooting of pigeons be 
 came a business, for the remainder of the season, 
 more in proportion to the people. Richard, how 
 ever, boasted for many a year, of his shot with the 
 " cricket ;" and Benjamin gravely asserted, that 
 he thought they killed nearly as many pigeons on 
 that day, as there were Frenchmen destroyed on 
 the memorable occasion of Rodney s victory. 
 
CHAPTER XXin. 
 
 Kelp, masters, help; here s a fUh hangs in tho net, like a poof 
 man s right in the law." 
 
 Pericles of Tyre. 
 
 THE advance of the season now became as rapid 
 as its first approach had been tedious and lingering. 
 The days were uniformly mild, and genial to vege 
 tation, while the nights, though cool, were no lon 
 ger chilled by frosts. The whip-poor-will was 
 heard whistling his melancholy notes along the mar 
 gin of the lake, and the ponds and meadows were 
 sending forth the music of their thousand tenants. 
 The leaf of the native poplar was seen quivering 
 in the w r oods ; the sides of the mountains began to 
 lose their hue of brown, as the lively green of the 
 different members of the forest blended their 
 shades with the permanent colours of the pine and 
 hemlock ; and even the buds of the tardy oak were 
 swelling with the promise of the coming summer. 
 The gay and fluttering blue-bird, the social robin, 
 and the industrious little wren, were all to be seen 
 enlivening the fields with their presence and their 
 songs ; while the soaring fish-hawk was already ho 
 vering over the waters of the Otsego, watching, 
 with his native voracity, for the appearance of his 
 prey. 
 
 The tenants oi the lake were far-famed for both 
 
332 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 their quantities and their quality, and the ice had 
 hardly disappeared, before numberless little boats 
 were launched from the shores, and the lines of 
 the fishermen were dropped into the inmost re 
 cesses of its deepest caverns, tempting the unwary 
 animals with every variety of bait that the ingenu 
 ity or the art of man had invented. But the slow, 
 though certain adventures with a hook and line 
 were ill-suited to the profusion and impatience of 
 the settlers. More destructive means were resort 
 ed to ; and, as the season had now arrived when 
 the bass-fisheries were allowed by the provisions 
 of the law that Judge Temple had procured, the 
 Sheriff declared his intention, by availing himself 
 of the first dark night, to enjoy the sport in person 
 
 " And you shall be present, cousin Bess," he 
 added, when he announced this intention, " and 
 Miss Grant, and Mr. Edwards ; and I will show 
 you what I call fishing not nibble, nibble, nibble, 
 as duke does when he goes after the salmon-trout. 
 There he will sit for hours, in a broiling sun, or, 
 perhaps, over a hole in the ice, in the coldest days 
 in winter, under the lee of a few bushes, and not 
 a fish will he catch, after all this mortification of 
 the flesh. No, no* give me a good seine that s 
 fifty or sixty fathoms in length, with a jolly parcel 
 of boatmen to crack their jokes the while, and 
 with Benjamin to steer, and let us haul them in 
 by thousands, and I shall call that fishing." 
 
 " Ah ! Dickon," cried Marmaduke, " thou know- 
 est but little of the pleasure there is in playing 
 with the hook and line, or thou wouldst be more 
 saving of the game. I have known thee to leave 
 fragments enough behind thee, when thou hast 
 headed a night-party on the lake, to feed a half- 
 dozen famishing families." 
 
 " I shall not dispute the matter with you. Judge 
 
THE PIONEERS. 333 
 
 Temple," said the Sheriff with much dignity ; " this 
 night will I go ; and I invite the company to attend, 
 and then let them decide between us." 
 
 Richard was busy, during most of the afternoon, 
 making his preparations for the important occasion. 
 Just as the light of the setting sun had disappeared, 
 and a new moon had begun to cause faint shadows 
 to be seen on the earth, the fishermen took their 
 departure in a boat, for a point that was situated 
 on the western shore of the lake, at the distance 
 of rather more than half a mile from the village. 
 The ground had become settled, and the walking 
 was good and dry. Marmaduke, with his daugh 
 ter, her friend, and young Edwards, continued on 
 the high grassy banks at the outlet of the placid 
 sheet of water, watching the dark object that was 
 moving with great rapidity across the lake, until it 
 entered the shade of the western hills, and was 
 lost to the eye. The distance round by land to 
 the point of their destination was a mile, and he 
 observed 
 
 " It is time for us to be moving ; the moon will 
 be down ere we reach the point, and then the mi 
 raculous hauls of Dickon will commence." 
 
 The evening was warm, and after the long and 
 dreary winter from which they had just escaped, 
 delightfully invigorating, both to the mind and 
 body. Inspirited by the scene and their antici 
 pated amusement the youthful companions of the 
 Judge followed his steps, as he led them along the 
 shores of the Otsego, and through the skirts of the 
 little village. 
 
 " See !" said young Edwards, " they are build 
 ing their fire already ; it glimmers for a moment, 
 and then dies again like the light of a fire-fly." 
 
 " Now it blazes like a bonfire ?" cried Eliza- 
 
334 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 beth ; " you can see the figures moving around the 
 light. Oh ! I would bet my jewels against the gold 
 beads of Remarkable, that my impatient cousin 
 Dickon had an agency in raising that bright flame ; 
 and see ; it begins to fade again, like most of his 
 brilliant schemes." 
 
 " Thou hast guessed the truth, Bess," said her 
 father ; "he has thrown an armful of brush on the 
 pile, which has burnt out as soon as lighted. But 
 it has enabled them to find a better fuel, for their 
 fire begins to blaze with a more steady flame. It 
 is the true fisherman s beacon now ; observe how 
 beautifully it throws its little circle of light on the 
 water!" 
 
 The appearance of the fire urged the pedestri 
 ans on, for even the ladies had become eager to 
 witness the draught of the seine. By the time they 
 reached the bank, which rose above the low point 
 where the fisherman had landed, the moon had 
 sunk behind the tops of the western pines, and, as 
 most of the stars were obscured by the clouds, 
 there was but little other light, by which to view 
 the scene, than that which proceeded from the 
 large piles of brush, branches, and roots, that had 
 been collected, under the superintendence of Ri 
 chard. At the suggestion of Marmaduke, his com 
 panions paused to listen to the conversation of 
 those below them, and examine the party, for a 
 moment, before they descended to the shore. 
 
 The whole group were seated around the fire, 
 on the ground, with the exception of Richard and 
 Benjamin ; the former of whom occupied the root 
 of a decayed stump, that had been drawn to the 
 spot as part of their fuel, and the latter was stand 
 ing, with his arms a-kimbo, so near to the flame, 
 that the smoke occasionally obscured his solemn 
 
THE PIONEERS. 335 
 
 visage, as it waved around the pile, in obedience 
 to the light night-airs, that swept gently over the 
 surface of the water. 
 
 " Why, look you, Squire," said the Major-do 
 mo, "you may call a lake-fish that will weigh 
 twenty or thirty pounds a serious matter ; but to 
 a man who has hauled in a shovel-nosed shirk, d ye 
 see, it s but a poor kind of fishing after all." 
 
 " I don t know, Benjamin," returned the She 
 riff; " a haul of one thousand Otsego bass, with 
 out counting pike, pickerel, perch, bull-pouts, sal- 
 mon-trouts, and suckers, is no bad fishing, let me 
 tell you. There may be sport in sticking a shark, 
 but what is he good for after you have got him ? 
 Now any one of the fish that I have named is fit to 
 set before a king." 
 
 " Well, Squire," returned Benjamin, "just lis 
 ten to the philosophy of the thing. Would it 
 stand to reason, that such fish should live and be 
 catched in this here little pond of water, where it s 
 hardly deep enough to drown a man, as you ll find 
 in the wide ocean, where, as every body knows, 
 that is, every body that has followed the seas, 
 whales and grampuses are to be seen, that are as 
 long as one of them pine trees on yonder moun 
 tain ?" 
 
 "Softly, softly, Benjamin," said the Sheriff, 
 using a soothing manner, as if he wished to save 
 the credit of his favourite ; " why some of the 
 pines will measure full two hundred feet, and even 
 more." 
 
 "Two hundred or two thousand, it s all the 
 same thing," cried Benjamin, with an air which 
 manifested that he was not easily to be bullied out 
 of his opinion, on a subject like the present - 
 " Haven t I been there, and haven t I seen ? I have 
 said that you fall in with whales as long as one of 
 
336 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 them there pines ; and I ll stand to what I have 
 once said." 
 
 During this dialogue, which was evidently but 
 the close of a much longer discussion, the huge 
 frame of Billy Kirby was seen extended on one 
 side of the fire, where he was picking his teeth 
 with the splinters of the chips that were near him, 
 and occasionally shaking his head, with the distrust 
 that was engendered by the marvellous qualities 
 of Benjamin s assertions. It seems that he now 
 thought it time to advance his sentiments on the 
 subject. 
 
 " I ve a notion," said the wood-chopper, " that 
 there s water in this lake to swim the biggest whale 
 that ever was invented ; and, as to the pines, I 
 think I ought to know so thing consarning them ; 
 and I have chopped many a one that was sixty 
 times the length of my helve, without counting the 
 eyes ; and I b lieve, Benny, that if the old pine 
 that stands in the hollow of the Vision Mountain, 
 just over the village, and you may see the tree it 
 self by looking up, for the moon is on its top yet ; 
 well, now I b lieve, that if that same tree was 
 planted out in the deepest part of the lake, there 
 would be water enough for the biggest ship that 
 ever was built to float over it, without touching its 
 upper branches, I do." 
 
 " Did ee ever see a ship, Master Kirby ?" roar 
 ed the steward " did ee ever see a ship, man ? or 
 any craft bigger than a lime-scow, or a wood-boat, 
 on this here small bit of fresh water ?" 
 
 " Yes, I have," said the wood-chopper, stoutly ; 
 " I can say that I have, and tell no lie." 
 
 " Did ee ever see a British ship, Master Kirby ? 
 an English line-of-battle ship, boy ? Where away 
 did ee ever fall in with a regular-built vessel, with 
 starn-post and cut- water, garboard streak and 
 
THE PIONEERS. 337 
 
 plank-shear, gangways, and hatchways, and water 
 ways, quarter-deck and forecastle, ay, and flush- 
 deck ? tell me that, man, if you can ; where away 
 did ee ever fall in with such a hooker ; a full-rig 
 ged, regular-built, decked vessel ?" 
 
 The whole company were a good deal astounded 
 with this overwhelming question, and even Richard 
 afterward remarked, that it " was a thousand pities 
 that Benjamin could not read, or he must have 
 made a valuable officer to the British marine. It 
 was no wonder that they overcome the French so 
 easily on the water, when even the lowest sailor 
 so well understood the different parts of a vessel." 
 But Billy Kirby was a fearless wight, and had great 
 jealousy of foreign dictation ; he had arisen on his 
 feet, and turned his back to the fire, during the 
 voluble delivery of this interrogatory ; and when 
 the steward ended, contrary to all expectation, he 
 gave the following spirited reply : 
 
 " Where ! why on the North River, and maybe 
 on Champlain. There s sloops on the river, boy, 
 that would give a hard time on t to the stoutest 
 vessel King George owns. They carry masts of 
 ninety feet in the clear, of good, solid pine, for I ve 
 been at the chopping of many a one in Varmount 
 state! I wish I ^was captain of one of them, and 
 you was in that Board-dish that you tell so much 
 about ; and we d soon see what good Yankee stuff 
 is made on, and whether a Varmounter s hide an t 
 as thick as an Englishman s." 
 
 The echoes from the opposite hills, which were 
 more than half a mile from the fishing point, sent 
 back the discordant laugh that Benjamin gave forth 
 at this challenge ; and the woods that covered their 
 sides, seemed, by the noise that issued from their 
 shades, to be full of mocking demons. 
 
 " Let us descend to the shore," whispered Mar- 
 29 
 
338 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 maduke, " or there will soon be ill blood between 
 them. Benjamin is a fearless boaster, and Kirby, 
 though good-natured, is a careless son of the forest, 
 who thinks one American more than a match for six 
 Englishmen. I marvel that Dickon is silent, where 
 there is such a trial of skill in the superlative !" 
 
 The appearance of Judge Temple and the ladies 
 produced, if not a pacification, at least a cessation 
 of hostilities. Obedient to the directions of Mr. 
 Jones, the fishermen prepared to launch their boat, 
 which had been seen in the back-ground of the 
 view, with the net carefully disposed on a little 
 platform in its stern, ready for instant service. Ri 
 chard gave vent to his reproaches at the tardiness 
 of the pedestrians, when all the turbulent passions 
 of the party were succeeded by a calm, as mild and 
 as placid as that which prevailed over the beauti 
 ful sheet of water, that they were about to rifle of 
 its best treasures. 
 
 The night had now become so dark as to render 
 objects, without the reach of the light from their 
 fire, not only indistinct, but, in most cases, invisi 
 ble. For a little distance the water was discerni 
 ble, glistening, as the glare from the fire danced 
 over its surface, touching it, here and there, with 
 red, quivering streaks ; but at a hundred feet from 
 the shore, a boundary of impenetrable gloom op 
 posed itself to the vision. One or two stars were 
 shining through the openings of the clouds, and the 
 lights were seen in the village, glimmering faintly, 
 as if at an immeasurable distance. At times, as 
 their fire lowered, or as the horizon cleared, the 
 outline of the mountain, on the other side of the 
 lake, might be traced, by its undulations ; but its 
 shadow was cast, wide and dense, on the bosom oi 
 the waters, rendering the darkness, in that direc 
 tion, trebly deep. 
 
THE PIONEERS. 339 
 
 Benjamin Pump was invariably the cockswain 
 and net-caster of Richard s boat, unless the Sheriff 
 saw fit to preside in person ; and, on the present 
 occasion, Billy Kirby, and a youth of about half 
 his strength, were assigned to the duty at the oars. 
 The remainder of the assistants were stationed at 
 the ropes, for the laborious service of hauling the 
 net to land. The arrangements were speedily 
 made, and Richard gave the signal to " shove off." 
 
 Elizabeth watched the motion of the batteau, as 
 it pulled from the shore, letting loose its rope as it 
 went, but it soon disappeared in the darkness, 
 when her ear was her only guide to its evolutions. 
 There was a great affectation of stillness, during 
 all these manoeuvres, in order, as Richard assured 
 them, " not to frighten the bass, who were running 
 into the shoal waters, and who would approach the 
 light, if not disturbed by the sounds from the fish 
 ermen." 
 
 The hoarse voice of Benjamin was alone heard, 
 issuing out of the gloom, as he uttered, in authori 
 tative tones, " pull larboard oar," " pull starboard," 
 " give way together, boys," and such other dicta- 
 tive mandates as were necessary for the right dis 
 position of his seine. A long time was passed in 
 this necessary part of the process, for Benjamin 
 prided himself greatly on his skill in throwing the 
 net, and, in fact, most of the success of the sport 
 depended on its being done with judgment. At 
 length a loud splash in the water, as he threw away 
 the " staff," or " stretcher," with a hoarse call from 
 the steward, of " clear," announced that the boat 
 was returning to the shore ; when Richard seized 
 a brand from the fire, and ran to a point, as far 
 above the centre of the fishing ground, as the one 
 from which the batteau had started was below it. 
 
 " Stick her in dead for the Squire, boys," said 
 
340 
 
 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 the steward, " and we ll have a look at what there 
 is that grows in this here pond." 
 
 In place of the falling net were now to be heard 
 the quick strokes of the oars, and the noise of the 
 rope running out of the boat. Presently the bat- 
 teau shot into the circle of light, and in an instant 
 she was pulled to shore. Several eager hands 
 were extended, to receive the " hauling line, "and, 
 both ropes being equally well manned, the fisher 
 men commenced hauling in, with slow and steady 
 drags, Richard standing in the centre, giving or 
 ders, first to one party and then to the other, to in 
 crease or slacken their efforts, as the occasion re 
 quired. The visiters were posted near him, and 
 enjoyed a fair view of the whole operation, which 
 was slowly advancing to an end. 
 
 Opinions, as to the result of their adventure, were 
 now freely hazarded by all the men, some declaring 
 that the net came in as light as a feather, and 
 others affirming that it seemed to be full of logs. 
 As the ropes were many hundred feet in length, 
 these opposing sentiments were thought to be of 
 little moment by the Sheriff, who would go first to 
 one line and then to the other, giving each a small 
 pull, in order to enable him to form an opinion for 
 himself. 
 
 " Why, Benjamin," he cried, as he made his 
 first effort in this way, " you did not throw your 
 net clear. I can move it with my little finger. 
 The rope slackens in my hand." 
 
 " Did you ever see a whale, Squire ?" respond 
 ed the steward : " I say that if that there net is 
 foul, the devil is in the lake in the shape of a fish, 
 for I cast it as fair as ever rigging was rove over 
 the quarter-deck of a flag-ship." 
 
 But Richard discovered his mistake, when he 
 saw Billy Kirby before him, standing with his feet 
 
THE PIONEERS. 341 
 
 to the water, at an angle of forty-five degrees, in 
 clining shorewards, and expending his gigantic 
 strength in sustaining himself in that posture. He 
 ceased his remonstrances, and proceeded to the 
 party at the other line. 
 
 " I see the c staffs, " shouted Mr. Jones ; " ga 
 ther in, boys, and away with it ; to shore with her 
 to shore with her." 
 
 At this cheerful sound, Elizabeth strained her 
 eyes and saw the ends of the two sticks on the 
 seine, emerging from the darkness, while the men 
 closed, near to each other, and formed a deep bag 
 of their net. The exertions of the fishermen sen 
 sibly increased, and the voice of Richard was 
 heard encouraging them to make their greatest 
 efforts at the present moment. 
 
 " Now s the time, my lads," he cried ; " let us 
 get the ends to land, and all we have will be our 
 own away with her !" 
 
 " Away with her it is," echoed Benjamin 
 u hurrah ! ho-a-hoy, ho-a-hoy, ho-a !" 
 
 " In with her," shouted Kirby, exerting himself 
 ID a manner that left nothing for those in his rear 
 to do, but to gather up the slack of the rope which 
 he passed through his hands. 
 
 " Staff, ho !" shouted the steward. 
 
 " Staff, ho !" echoed Kirby, from the other rope. 
 
 The men rushed to the water s edge, some 
 seizing the upper rope, and some the lower, or 
 lead-rope, and began to haul with great activity 
 and zeal. A deep semicircular sweep, of the little 
 balls that supported the seine in its perpendicular 
 position, was plainly visible to the spectators, and, 
 as it rapidly lessened in size, the bag of the net 
 appeared, while an occasional flutter on the water 
 announced the uneasiness of the prisoners it con 
 tained. 
 
 29 * 
 
342 
 
 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 " Haul in, my lads," shouted Richard " I can 
 see the dogs lacking to get free. Haul in, and 
 here s a cast that will pay you for the labour." 
 
 Fishes of various sorts now were to be seen, en 
 tangled in the meshes of the net, as it was passed 
 through the hands of the labourers ; and the water, 
 at a little distance from the shore, was alive with 
 the agitated movements of the alarmed victims. 
 Hundreds of white sides were glancing up to the 
 surface of the water, and glistening in the fire 
 light, when frightened at the uproar and the change, 
 the fish would again dart to the bottom, in fruitless 
 efforts for freedom. 
 
 " Hurrah !" shouted Richard again ; " one or 
 two more heavy drags, boys, and we are safe." 
 
 " Cheerily, boys, cheerily !" cried Benjamin ; 
 " I see a salmon-trout that is big enough for a 
 chowder." 
 
 " Away with you, you varmint !" said Billy 
 Kirby, plucking a bull-pout from the meshes, and 
 casting the animal back into the lake with great 
 contempt. " Pull, boys, pull ; here s all kinds, and 
 the Lord condemn me for a liar, if there an t a 
 thousand bass !" 
 
 Inflamed beyond the bounds of discretion at the 
 sight, and forgetful of the season, the wood-chop 
 per rushed to his middle in the water, and began 
 to drive the reluctant animals before him from their 
 native element. 
 
 " Pull heartily, boys," cried Marmaduke, yield 
 ing to the excitement of the moment, and laying 
 his hands to the net, with no trifling addition to the 
 force. Edwards had preceded him, for the sight 
 of the immense piles of fish, that were slowly roll 
 ing over on the gravelly beach, had impelled him 
 also to leave the ladies, and join the fishermen. 
 
 Great care was observed in bringing the net to 
 
THE PIONEERS. 343 
 
 land, and, after much toil, the whole shoal of vic 
 tims were safe deposited in a hollow of the bank, 
 where they were left to flutter away their brief 
 existence in their new and fatal element. 
 
 Even Elizabeth and Louisa were greatly excited 
 and highly gratified by seeing two thousand cap 
 tives thus drawn from the bosom of the lake, and 
 laid prisoners at their feet. But when the feelings 
 of the moment were passing away, Marmaduke 
 took in his hands a bass, that might have weighed 
 two pounds, and after viewing it a moment, in me 
 lancholy musing, he turned to his daughter, and 
 observed 
 
 " This is a fearful expenditure of the choicest 
 gifts of providence. These fish, Bess, which thou 
 seest lying in such piles before thee, and which, 
 by to-morrow evening, will be rejected food on 
 the meanest table in Templeton, are of a quality 
 and flavour that, in other countries, would make 
 them esteemed a luxury on the tables of princes or 
 epicures. The world has no better fish than the 
 bass of Otsego : it unites the richness of the shad 
 to the firmness of the salmon." 
 
 " But surely, dear sir," cried Elizabeth, " they 
 must prove a great blessing to the country, and a 
 powerful friend to the poor." 
 
 " The poor are always prodigal, my child, where 
 there is plenty, and seldom think of a provision 
 against the morrow. But if there can be any ex 
 cuse for destroying animals in this manner, it is 
 in taking the bass. During the winter, you know, 
 they are entirely protected from our assaults by 
 the ice, for they ever refuse the hook ; and during 
 the hot months they are not seen. It is supposed 
 they retreat to the deep ind cool waters of the 
 lake, at that season ; and it is only in the spring and 
 
344 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 autumn, that, for a few days, they are to be found 
 around the points where they are within the reach 
 of a seine. But, like all the other treasures of the 
 wilderness, they already begin to disappear before 
 the wasteful extravagance of man." 
 
 " Disappear, duke ! disappear !" exclaimed the 
 Sheriff; "if you don t call this appearing, I know 
 not what you will. Here are a good thousand of 
 the shiners, some hundreds of suckers, and a pow 
 erful quantity of other fry, But this is always the 
 way with you, Marmaduke ; first it s the trees, 
 then it s the deer, after that it s the maple sugar, 
 and so on to the end of the chapter. One day you 
 talk of canals through a country where there s a 
 river or a lake every half-mile, just because the 
 water won t run the way you wish it to go ; and 
 the next, you say something about mines of coal, 
 though any man who has good eyes like myself 
 I say with good eyes can see more wood than 
 would keep the city of London in fuel for fifty 
 years ; wouldn t it, Benjamin ?" 
 
 " Why, for that, Squire," said the steward, 
 " Lon on is no small place. If it was stretched an 
 end, all the same as a town on one side of a river, 
 it would cover some such matter as this here lake. 
 Tho f I dar. st to say, that the wood in sight 
 might sarve them a good turn, seeing that the 
 Lon oners mainly burn coal." 
 
 " Now we are on the subject of coal, Judge 
 Temple," interrupted the Sheriff, " I have a thing 
 of much importance to communicate to you ; but I 
 will defer it until to-morrow. I know that you in 
 tend riding into the eastern part of the patent, and 
 I will accompany you, and conduct you to a spot, 
 where some of your projects may be realized. We 
 will say no more now, sir, for there are listeners ; 
 
THE PIONEERS 345 
 
 but a secret has this evening been revealed to me, 
 duke, that is of more consequence to your wel 
 fare, than all your estates united." 
 
 Marmaduke laughed at the important intelli 
 gence, to which in a variety of shapes he was ac 
 customed, and the Sheriff, with an air of great dig- 
 ty, as* if pitying his want of faith, proceeded in the 
 business more immediately before them. As the 
 labour of drawing the net had been very great, he 
 directed one party of his men to commence throw 
 ing the fish into piles, preparatory to the usual di 
 vision, while another, under the superintendence 
 of Benjamin, prepared the seine for a second haul. 
 
CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 < While from its margin, terrible to tell ! 
 Three sailors with their gallant boatswain fell." 
 
 Falconer. 
 
 WHILE the fishermen were employed in making 
 the preparations for an equitable division of their 
 spoils, Elizabeth and her friend strolled to a short 
 distance from the group, along the shores of the 
 lake. The shades of evening had been gradually 
 gathering around the scene, during the draught of 
 the net, and, while the objects in the vicinity of the 
 fire were still distinct, and even vivid, the sur 
 rounding darkness became deeper, both by the 
 contrast, and the advancing dominion of the night. 
 After reaching a point, to which even the brightest 
 of the occasional gleams of light from the fire did 
 not extend, the ladies turned, and paused a mo 
 ment, in contemplation of the busy and lively party 
 they had left, and of the obscurity, which, like the 
 gloom of oblivion, seemed to envelope the rest of 
 the creation. 
 
 " This is indeed a subject for the pencil !" ex 
 claimed Elizabeth. " Observe the countenance 
 of that wood-chopper, while he exults in present 
 ing a larger fish than common to my cousin Sheriff; 
 and see, Louisa, how handsome and considerate 
 my dear father looks, by the light of that fire, 
 
THE PIONEERS. 347 
 
 where he stands viewing the havoc of the game. 
 He seems really melancnoly, as if he actually 
 thought that a day of retribution was to follow this 
 hour of abundance and prodigality ! Would they 
 not make a fine picture, Louisa ?" 
 
 " You know that I am ignorant of all such ac 
 complishments, Miss Temple." 
 
 " Call me by my Christian name," interrupted 
 Elizabeth; " this is not a place, neither is this a 
 scene, for the observance of forms." 
 
 " Well, then, if I may venture an opinion," said 
 Louisa, timidly, " I should think it might indeed 
 make a picture. The selfish earnestness of that 
 Kirby over his fish would contrast finely with the 
 the expression of Mr. Edwards s face. I hardly 
 know what to call it ; but it is a is you know 
 what I would say, dear Elizabeth." 
 
 " You do me too much credit, Miss Grant," said 
 the heiress ; " I am no diviner of thoughts, or in 
 terpreter of expressions." 
 
 There was certainly nothing harsh, or even 
 cold, in the manner of the speaker, but still it 
 repressed the conversation for a moment, and the 
 maidens continued to stroll still further from their 
 party, retaining each other s arm, but observing a 
 profound silence. Elizabeth, perhaps, conscious 
 of the improper phraseology of her last speech, or 
 perhaps excited by the new object that met her 
 wandering gaze, was the first to break the present 
 awkward cessation in the discourse, by exclaiming, 
 in all the richness of her animated and animating 
 voice 
 
 " Look, Louisa ! we are not alone ; there are 
 fishermen lighting a fire on the other side of the 
 lake, immediately opposite to us ; it must be in 
 front of the cabin of the Leather-stocking !" 
 
 For some cause or other, Miss Grant had kept 
 
348 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 her eyes bent in the direction of the pebbles, over 
 which she was walking ; probably because, being 
 less adventurous than her companion, she was dis 
 posed to view what could be faintly discerned, 
 without attempting the gloom, in a vain effort to 
 pierce its mysteries ; or probably for some bettei 
 reason, that we leave our readers to imagine ; but 
 thus awakened, she looked up, in the direction 
 pointed out by her friend, and saw, at once, the 
 cause of her sudden exclamation. 
 
 Through the obscurity, which prevailed most 
 immediately under the eastern mountain, a small 
 and uncertain light was plainly to be seen, though 
 as it was occasionally lost to the eye, it seemed 
 struggling for its existence. They observed it to 
 move, and sensibly to lower, as if carried down the 
 descent of the bank to the shore. Here, in a very 
 short time, its flame gradually expanded, and grew 
 brighter, until it became of the size of a man s head, 
 when it continued to shine, a steady and glaring 
 ball of fire. 
 
 Such an object, lighted as it were by magic, un 
 der the brow of the mountain, and in that retired 
 and unfrequented place, gave double interest to 
 the beauty and singularity of its appearance. It 
 did not at all resemble the large and unsteady light 
 of their own fire, being much more clear and 
 bright, and retaining its size and shape with per 
 fect uniformity. 
 
 There are moments when the best regulated 
 minds are, more or less, subjected to the injurious 
 impressions which few have escaped in infancy, 
 and Elizabeth smiled at her own weakness, while 
 she remembered the idle tales which were circu 
 lated through the village, at the expense of the 
 Leather-stocking. The same ideas seized her com 
 panion, and at the same instant, for Louisa pressed 
 
THE PIONEERS. 349 
 
 nearer to her friend, as she said in a low voice, 
 stealing a timid glance towards the bushes and 
 trees that overhung the bank near them 
 
 " Did you ever hear the singulai ways of this 
 Natty spoken of, Miss Temple ? They say that, 
 in his youth, he was an Indian warrior, or, what is 
 the same thing, a white man leagued with the sa 
 vages ; and it is thought he has been concerned in 
 many of their inroads, in the old wars." 
 
 " The thing is not at all improbable," returned 
 Elizabeth ; " but he is not alone in that particular." 
 
 " No, surely ; but is it not strange, that he is so 
 cautious with his hut ? he never leaves it, without 
 fastening it in a remarkable manner ; and, in seve 
 ral instances, when the children, or even the men 
 of the village, have wished to seek a shelter there 
 from the storms, he has been known to drive them 
 from his door, with rudeness and threats. That 
 surely is singular in this country !" 
 
 " It is certainly not being very hospitable ; but 
 we must remember his aversion to the customs of 
 civilized life. You heard my father say, a few 
 days since, how kindly he was treated by him on 
 his first visit to this place." Elizabeth paused, and 
 smiled, with an expression of peculiar archness, 
 though the darkness hid its meaning from her com 
 panion, as she continued : " Besides, he certainly 
 admits the visits of Mr. Edwards, whom we both 
 know to be far from a savage." 
 
 To this speech Louisa made no reply, but con 
 tinued gazing on the object which had elicited her 
 remarks. In addition to the bright and circular 
 flame was now to be seen a fainter though a vivid 
 light, of an equal diameter to the other at the up 
 per end, but which, after extending downward for 
 many feet, gradually tapered to a point at its lower 
 extremity. A dark space was plainly visible be- 
 30 
 
350 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 tween the two, and the new illumination was 
 placed beneath the other, the whole forming an 
 appearance not unlike an inverted note of admira 
 tion. It was soon evident that the latter was no 
 thing but the reflection, from the water, of the 
 former, and that the object, whatever it might be, 
 was advancing across, or rather over the lake, for 
 it seemed to be several feet above its surface, in a 
 direct line with themselves. Its motion was 
 amazingly rapid, the ladies having hardly discover 
 ed that it was moving at all, before the waving 
 light of a flame was discerned, losing its regular 
 shape, while it increased in size, as it approached 
 them. 
 
 " It appears to be supernatural !" whispered 
 Louisa, beginning to retrace her steps towards the 
 jarty. 
 
 " It is beautiful !" exclaimed Elizabeth. 
 
 A brilliant though waving flame was now plainly 
 visible, gracefully gliding over the lake, and throw 
 ing its light on the water in such a manner as to 
 tinge it slightly ; though in the air, so strong was 
 the contrast, the darkness seemed to have the dis 
 tinctness of material substances, as if the fire were 
 imbedded in a setting of ebony. This appearance, 
 however, gradually wore off, and the rays from 
 the torch struck out, and enlightened the atmo 
 sphere in front of it, leaving the back-ground in 
 a darkness that was more impenetrable than ever. 
 
 " Ho ! Natty, is that you ? shouted the Sheriff 
 " paddle in, old boy, and I ll give you a mess of 
 fish that is fit to place before the Governor." 
 
 The light suddenly changed its direction, and a 
 long and slightly-built boat hove up out of the 
 gloom, while the red glare fell on the weather- 
 beaten features of the Leather-stocking, whose tall 
 person was seen erect in the frail vessel, wielding. 
 
THE PIONEERS. 351 
 
 with all the grace of an experienced boatman, a 
 long fishing spear, which he held by its centre, first 
 dropping one nd and then the other into the wa 
 ter, to aid in propelling the little canoe of bark, 
 we will not say through, but over the water. At 
 the farther end of the vessel, a form was faintly 
 seen, guiding its motions, and using a paddle with 
 the ease of one who felt there was no necessity for 
 extraordinary exertions. The Leather-stocking 
 struck his spear lightly against the short staff which 
 upheld, on a rude grating framed of old hoops of 
 iron, the knots of pine that composed the fuel, and 
 the light, which glared high, for an instant fell on 
 the swarthy features, and dark, glancing eyes of 
 Mohegan. 
 
 The boat glided along the shore until it arrived 
 opposite to the fishing-ground, whenit again 
 changed its direction, and moved on to the land, 
 with a motion so graceful, and yet so rapid, that it 
 seemed to possess the power of regulating its pro 
 gress by its own volition. The water in front of 
 the canoe was hardly ruffled by its passage, and no 
 sound betrayed the collision, when the light fabric 
 shot on the gravelly beach, for nearly half its 
 length, Natty receding a step or two from its bow, 
 in order to facilitate the landing. 
 
 " Approach, Mohegan," said Marmaduke : " ap 
 proach, Leather-stocking, and load your canoe with 
 bass. It would be a shame to assail the animals 
 with the spear, when such multitudes of victims 
 lie here, that will be lost as food for the want of 
 mouths to consume them." 
 
 " No, no, Judge," returned Natty, his tall figure 
 stalking over the narrow beach, and ascending to 
 the little grassy bottom where the fish were laid 
 in piles ; " I eat of no man s wasty ways. I strike 
 my spear into the eels, or the trout, when I crave 
 
352 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 the creaters, but I would nt be helping to such a 
 sinful kind of fishing, for the best rifle that was 
 ever brought out from the old countries. If they 
 had fur like a beaver, or you could tan their hides, 
 like a buck, something might be said in favour of 
 taking them by the thousands with your nets ; but 
 as God made them for man s food, and for no other 
 disarnable reason, I call it sinful and wasty to catch 
 more than can be eat." 
 
 " Your reasoning is mine," cried Marmaduke ; 
 " for once, old hunter, we agree in our opinions ; 
 and 1 heartily wish we could make a convert of the 
 Sheriff. A net of half the size of this would sup 
 ply the whole village with fish, for a week, at one 
 haul." 
 
 The Leather-stocking did not relish this alliance 
 in sentiment, and he shook his head doubtingly, as 
 he answered 
 
 " No, no ; we are not much of one mind, Judge, 
 or you d never turn good hunting grounds into 
 stumpy pastures. And you fish and hunt out of 
 rule ; but to me, the flesh is sweeter, where the 
 creater has some chance for its life ; for that rea 
 son, I always use a single ball, even if it be at a 
 bird or a squirrel ; besides, it saves lead, for, when 
 a body knows how to shoot, one piece of lead is 
 enough for all, except hard-lived animals." 
 
 The Sheriff heard these opinions with great in 
 dignation, and when he completed the last arrange 
 ment for the division, by carrying, with his own 
 hands, a trout of a large size, and placing it on four 
 different piles in succession, as his changeful ideas 
 of justice required, he gave vent to his spleen by 
 exclaiming 
 
 a A very pretty confederacy, indeed ! Judge 
 Temple, the landlord and owner of a township, 
 with Nathaniel Bumppo, a lawless squatter, and 
 
THE PIONEERS. 353 
 
 professed deer-killer, in order to preserve the game 
 in the county! But, duke, when I fish,. I fish, 
 and don t play ; so, away, boys, for another haul, 
 and we ll send out wagons and carts, in the morn 
 ing, to bring in our prizes !" 
 
 Marmaduke appeared to understand that all op 
 position to the will of the Sheriff would be useless, 
 and he strolled from the fire to the place where 
 the canoe of the hunters lay, whither the ladies 
 and Oliver Edwards had already preceded him. 
 
 Curiosity induced the females to approach this 
 spot, but it surely was a different motive that led 
 the youth thither. Elizabeth examined the light 
 ash timbers, and thin bark covering of the canoe, 
 in admiration of its neat but simple execution, and 
 with wonder that any human being could be so 
 daring as to trust his life in so frail a vessel. But 
 the youth explained to her the buoyant properties 
 of the boat, and its perfect safety, when under 
 proper management, adding, in such glowing terms, 
 a description of the manner in which the fish were 
 struck with the spear, that she changed suddenly, 
 from an apprehension of the danger of the excur 
 sion, to a desire to participate in its pleasures. She 
 even ventured a proposition to that effect to her 
 father, laughing at the same time, at her own wish, 
 and accusing herself of acting under a woman s ca 
 price. 
 
 " Say not so, Bess," returned the Judge ; " I 
 would have you above the idle fears of a silly girl. 
 These canoes are the safest kind of boats to those 
 who have skill and steady nerves. I have crossed 
 the broadest part of the Oneida in one much small 
 er than this." 
 
 " And I the Ontary," interrupted the Leather- 
 stocking ; " and that with squaws in the canoe, 
 too. But the Delaware women be used to th* 
 30* 
 
354 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 paddle, and are down good hands in a boat of this 
 nater. If the young woman would like to see an 
 old man strike a trout for his breakfast, she is wel 
 come to a seat and a sight. John will say the 
 same, seeing that he built the canoe, which was 
 only launched yesterday ; for I m not over curous 
 at such small work as brooms, and basket-making, 
 and other like Indian trades." 
 
 Natty gave the heiress one of his significant 
 laughs, with a kind nod of his head, when he con 
 cluded this invitation ; but Mohegan, with the na 
 tive grace of an Indian, approached, and taking her 
 soft white hand into his own swarthy and wrinkled 
 palm, said 
 
 " Come, grand-daughter of Miquon, and John 
 will be glad. Trust the Indian : his head is old, 
 though his hand is not steady. The young Eagle 
 will go, and see that no harm hurts his sister." 
 
 " Well, Mr. Edwards," cried Elizabeth, blush 
 ing slightly, " your friend, Mohegan, you see, has 
 given a promise for you. Do you redeem the 
 pledge ?" 
 
 " With my life, if necessary. Miss Temple," 
 cried the youth, with fervour. " The sight is 
 worth some little apprehension, for of real danger 
 there is none. I will go with you and Miss Grant, 
 however, to save appearances." 
 
 " With me !" exclaimed Louisa ; " no, not with 
 me, Mr. Edwards, nor surely do you mean to trust 
 yourself in that slight canoe." 
 
 " But I shall, for I have no apprehensions any 
 longer," said Elizabeth, stepping into the boat, and 
 taking a seat where the Indian directed. " Mr. 
 Edwards, you may remain, as three do seem to be 
 enough for such an egg-shell." 
 
 " It shall hold a fourth," cried the young man, 
 springing to her side, with a violence that nearly 
 
THE PIONEERS. 355 
 
 shook the weak fabric of the vessel asunder ; 
 " pardon me, Miss Temple, that I do not permit 
 these venerable Charons to take you to the shades 
 unattended by your genius. 57 
 
 " Is it a good or evil spirit ?" asked Elizabeth. 
 
 " Good to you." 
 
 " And mine," added the maiden, with an air that 
 strangely blended pique with satisfaction. But the 
 motion of the canoe gave rise to new ideas, and 
 fortunately afforded a good excuse to the young 
 man to change the discourse. 
 
 It appeared to Elizabeth that they glided over 
 the water by magic, so easy and graceful was the 
 manner in which Mohegan guided his little bark. 
 A slight gesture with his spear indicated the way 
 in which the Leather-stocking wished to go, and a 
 profound silence was preserved by the whole party, 
 as a precaution necessary to the success of their 
 fishery. The shore, at that point of the lake, ran 
 gradually off, and the water shoaled regularly, dif 
 fering, in this particular, altogether, from those 
 parts where the mountains rose, nearly in perpen 
 dicular precipices, from the beach. There, the 
 largest vessels could have lain, with their yards 
 locked in the branches of the pines ; while here, a 
 scanty growth of rushes lifted their tops above the 
 lake, gently curling the waters, as their bending 
 heads slowly waved with the passing breath of the 
 night air. It was at the shallow points, only, that 
 the bass could be found, or the net cast with suc 
 cess. 
 
 Elizabeth saw thousands of these fish swimming 
 in shoals along the shallow and warm waters of the 
 shore ; for the flaring light of their torch exposed 
 all the mysteries of the lake, laying them open to 
 the eye, with a slight variation in colour, as plainly 
 as if the limpid sheet of the Otsego was but an- 
 
356 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 other atmosphere. Every instant she expected to 
 see the impending spear of Leather-stocking dart 
 ing into the thronging hosts that were rushing be 
 neath her, where it would seem that a blow could 
 not go amiss ; and where, as her father had already 
 said, the prize that would be obtained was worthy 
 of the notice of any epicure. But Natty had his 
 peculiar habits, and, it would seem, his peculiar 
 tastes also. His tall stature, and his erect posture, 
 enabled him to see much further than those who, 
 from motives of safety, were seated in the bottom 
 of the canoe ; and he turned his head warily, in 
 every direction, frequently bending his body for 
 ward, and straining his vision, as if desirous of pe 
 netrating the darkness in the water, that surround 
 ed their boundary of light. At length his anxious 
 scrutiny was rewarded with success, and, waving 
 his spear from the shore, he said in a cautious 
 tone 
 
 " Send her outside the bass, John ; I see a laker 
 there, that has run out of the school. It s sildom 
 one finds such a creater in the shallow waters, 
 where a spear can touch it." 
 
 Mohegan gave a wave of assent with his hand, 
 and in the next instant the canoe was without the 
 " run of the bass," and in water of nearly twenty 
 feet in depth. A few additional knots were laid 
 on the grating, and the light from the fire made to 
 reach the bottom. Elizabeth then saw a fish of 
 unusual size, floating above the small pieces of logs 
 and sticks that were lying on the bottom. The 
 animal was only distinguishable, at that distance, 
 by a slight, but almost imperceptible motion of its 
 fins and tail. The curiosity excited by this unu 
 sual exposure of the secrets of the lake seemed to 
 be mutual between the heiress of the land and the 
 lord of these waters, for the " salmoif-trout" soo 
 
THE PIONEERS. 357 
 
 announced his interest by raising his head and 
 body, for a few degrees above a horizontal line, 
 and then dropping them again into the position of 
 nature. 
 
 " Whist f whist !" said Natty, in a low voice, on 
 hearing a slight sound made by Elizabeth, in bend 
 ing over the side of the canoo, in eager curiosity ; 
 " tis a skeary animal, and it s a far stroke for a 
 spear. My handle is but fourteen foot, and the 
 creater lies at a good eighteen from the top of the 
 water ; but I ll try him, for he s a ten-pounder." 
 
 While speaking, the Leather-stocking was pois 
 ing and directing his weapon. Elizabeth saw the 
 bright, polished tines, as they slowly and silently 
 entered the water, where the refraction pointed 
 them many degrees from the true direction to the 
 fish ; and she thought that the intended victim saw 
 them also, as he seemed to increase the play of his 
 tail and fins, though without moving his station. At 
 the next instant, the tall body of Natty bent to the 
 water s edge, and the handle of his spear disap 
 peared in the lake. The long, dark streak of the 
 gliding weapon, and the little bubbling vortex, 
 which followed its rapid flight, were easily to be 
 seen ; but it was not until the handle shot again 
 high into the air, by its own reaction, and its ma 
 ster, catching it in his hand, threw its tines upper 
 most, that Elizabeth was acquainted with the suc 
 cess of the blow. A fish of great size was trans 
 fixed by the barbed steel, and was very soon 
 shaken from its impaled situation into the bottom 
 of the canoe. 
 
 " That will do John," said Natty, raising his 
 prize by one of his fingers, and exhibiting it before 
 the torch ; " enough is as good as a feast ; I shall 
 not strike another blow to-night." 
 
358 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 The Indian again waved his hand, and replied 
 with the simple and energetic monosyllable of 
 
 " Good." 
 
 Elizabeth was awakened from the trance cre 
 ated by this scene, and by gazing in that unusual 
 manner at the bottom of the lake, by the hoarse 
 sounds of Benjamin s voice, and the dashing of 
 oars, as the heavier boat of the seine-drawers ap 
 proached the spot where the canoe lay, dragging 
 after its toilsome way the folds of the net, which 
 was already spreading on the water. 
 
 " Haul off, haul off, Master Bumppo," cried 
 Benjamin ; " your top-light frightens the fish, who 
 see the net and sheer off soundings. A fish knows 
 as much as a horse, or, for that matter, more, see 
 ing that it s brought up on the water. Haul off, 
 Master Bumppo, haul off, I say, and give a wide 
 birth to the seine." 
 
 Mohegan guided their little canoe to a point 
 where the movements of the fishermen could be 
 observed, without interruption to the business, and 
 then suffered it to lie quietly on the water, looking 
 like an imaginary vessel floating in the air. There 
 appeared to be much ill-humour among the party 
 in the batteau, for the directions of Benjamin were 
 not only frequent, but issued in a voice that par 
 took largely of the tones of dissatisfaction. 
 
 " Pull larboard oar, will ye, Master Kirby," cried 
 the old seaman ; " Pull larboard best. It would 
 puzzle the oldest admiral in the British fleet tc 
 cast this here net fair, with a wake like a cork 
 screw. Pull starboard, boy, pull starboard oar, 
 with a will." 
 
 " Harkee, Mister Pump," said Kirby, ceasing 
 to row, and speaking with some spirit ; " I m a 
 man that likes civil language and decent treatment , 
 
THE PIONEERS. 359 
 
 euch as is right twixt man and man. If you want 
 us to go hoy, say so, and hoy I ll go, for the bene 
 fit of the company ; but I m not used to being or 
 dered about like dumb cattle." 
 
 " Who s dumb cattle ?" echoed Benjamin, fierce 
 ly, turning his forbidding face to the glare of light 
 from the canoe, and exhibiting every feature teem 
 ing with the expression of his disgust. " If you 
 want to come aft and cun the boat round, come 
 and be damned, and a pretty steerage you ll make 
 of it too. There s but another heave of the net in 
 the stern-sheets, and we re clear of the thing. 
 Give way, will ye ? and shoot her ahead for a fa 
 thom or twO} and if you catch me afloat again with 
 such a horsemarine as yourself, why rate me a 
 ship s jackass, that s all." 
 
 Probably encouraged by the prospect of a speedy 
 termination to his labour, the wood-chopper re 
 sumed his oar, and, under the strong excitement 
 of his feelings, gave a stroke with it, that not only 
 cleared the boat of the net, but of the steward, at 
 the same instant, also. Benjamin had stood on the 
 little platform that held the seine, in the stern of 
 the boat, and the violent whirl occasioned by the 
 vigour of the wood-chopper s arm, completely de 
 stroyed his balance. The position of the lights 
 rendered objects in the batteau distinguishable, both 
 from the canoe and the shore ; and the heavy fall 
 on the water drew all eyes to the steward, as he 
 lay struggling, for a moment, in sight. 
 
 A loud burst of merriment, to which the lungs 
 of Kirby contributed no small part, broke out like 
 a chorus of laughter, and rung along the eastern 
 mountain, in echoes, until it died away in distant, 
 mocking mirth, among the rocks and w r oods. The 
 body of the steward was seen slowly to disappear, 
 as was expected ; but when the light waves, which 
 
360 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 had been raised by his fall, began to sink in calm 
 ness, and the water finally closed over his head, 
 unbroken and still, a very different feeling pei- 
 vaded the spectators. 
 
 " How fare you, Benjamin ?" shouted Richard 
 from the shore. 
 
 " The dumb devil can t swim a stroke !" ex 
 claimed Kirby, rising, and beginning to throw aside 
 his clothes. 
 
 " Paddle up, Mohegan," cried young Edwards, 
 " where the light will show us how he lies, and 
 let me dive for the body." 
 
 " Oh ! save him ! for God s sake, save him !" 
 exclaimed Elizabeth, bowing her head on the side 
 of the canoe in horror. 
 
 A powerful and dexterous sweep of Mohegan s 
 paddle sent the canoe directly over the spot 
 where the steward had fallen, and a loud shout 
 from the Leather-stocking announced that he saw 
 the body. 
 
 " Then steady the boat while I dive," again 
 cried Edwards. 
 
 " Gently, lad, gently," said Natty ; " I ll spear 
 the creater up in half the time, and no risk to 
 any body." 
 
 The form of Benjamin was lying, about half w T ay 
 to the bottom, grasping with either hand the bot 
 toms of some broken rushes, by whose strength it 
 was maintained in that position. The blood of 
 Elizabeth curdled to her heart, as she saw the 
 figure of a fellow creature thus extended under an 
 immense sheet of water, apparently in motion, by 
 the undulations of the dying waves, with its face 
 and hands, viewed by that light, and through the 
 medium of the fluid, already coloured with livid 
 hues like death. 
 
 At the same instant, she saw the shining tines 
 
THE PIONEERS. 361 
 
 of Natty s spear approaching the motionless head 
 of the sufferer, and entwining themselves, rapidly 
 and dexterously, in the hairs of his queue and the 
 cape of his coat. The body was now raised slowly, 
 looking ghastly and grim, as its features turned up 
 ward to the light, and approached the surface. 
 The arrival of the nostrils of Benjamin into their 
 own atmosphere, was announced by a breathing 
 that would have done credit to a full grown por 
 poise. For a moment. Natty held the steward 
 suspended, with his head just above the water, 
 while his eyes slowly opened, and stared about 
 him, as if he thought that he had reached a new 
 and unexplored country. 
 
 As all the parties acted and spoke together, 
 much less time was consumed in the occurrence 
 of these events, than in their narration. To bring 
 the batteau to the end of the spear, and to raise 
 the form of Benjamin from its liquid element into 
 the boat, and for the whole party to gain the shore, 
 and land, required but a minute. Kirby, aided by 
 Richard, whose anxiety induced him to run into 
 the water to meet his favourite assistant, carried 
 the motionless steward up the bank, and seated 
 him before the fire, where he was supported, while 
 the Sheriff proceeded to order the most approved 
 measures then in use, for the resuscitation of the 
 drowned. 
 
 " Run, Billy," he cried, " to the village, and bring 
 up the rum-hogshead that lies before the door, in 
 which I am making vinegar in cold weather, and 
 be quick, boy, don t stay to empty the vinegar ; 
 and stop at Mr. Le Quoi s, and buy a paper of to 
 bacco and half-a-dozen pipes ; and ask Remarkable 
 for some salt, and one of her flannel petticoats ; 
 and ask Dr. Todd to send his lancet, and to come 
 
 himself; and ha ! duke, what are you about ? 
 
 31 
 
362 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 would you strangle a man who is full of water, bj 
 giving him rum ! Help me to open this hand, that I 
 may pat it." 
 
 All this time Benjamin sat, with his muscles 
 fixed, his mouth shut, and his hands clenching the 
 rushes, which he had seized in the confusion of the 
 moment, and which, as he held fast, like a true 
 seaman, had been the means of preventing his body 
 from rising again to the surface. His eyes, how 
 ever, were open, and stared wildly on the group 
 about the fire, while his lungs were playing like a 
 blacksmith s bellows, as if to compensate them 
 selves for the minute of inaction to which they had 
 been subjected. As he kept his lips compressed, 
 with a most inveterate determination, the air was 
 compelled to pass through his nostrils, and he ra 
 ther snorted than breathed, and in such a manner, 
 that nothing but the excessive agitation of the 
 Sheriff could at all justify his precipitous orders. 
 
 The bottle, applied to the steward s lips by Mar- 
 maduke, acted like a charm. His mouth opened 
 instinctively ; his hands dropped the rushes, and 
 seized the black glass ; his eyes raised from their 
 horizontal stare, to the heavens ; and the whole 
 man was lost, for a moment, in a new sensation. 
 Unhappily for the propensity of the steward, breath 
 was as necessary after one of these draughts, as af 
 ter his submersion, and the time at length arrived 
 when he was compelled to let go of the bottle. 
 
 " Why, Benjamin !" roared the Sheriff; " you 
 amaze me ! for a man of your experience in drown- 
 ings to act so foolishly ! j ist now, you were half 
 full of water, and now you are" 
 
 " Full of grog," interrupted the steward, his 
 features settling down, with amazing flexibility, 
 into their natural economy. " But, d ye see ; 
 Squire, I kept my hatches close, and it is but little 
 
THE PIONEERS. 363 
 
 water that ever gets into my scuttle-butt. Harkee, 
 Master Kirby ! I ve followed the salt water for 
 the better part of a man s life, and have seen some 
 navigation on the fresh ; but this here matter I will 
 say in your favour, and that is, that you re the 
 awk ardest green un that ever straddled a boat s 
 thwart. Them that likes you for a ship-mate, 
 may sail with you and no thanks ; but dam me if I 
 even walk on the lake, shore in your company 
 For why ? you d as lief drown a man as one ot 
 them there fish ; not to throw a Christian areature 
 so much as a rope s end, when he was adrift, and 
 no life-buoy in sight ! Natty Bumppo, give us 
 your fist. There s them that says you re an In 
 dian, and a scalper, but you ve sarved me a good 
 turn, and you may set me down for a friend ; thof 
 it would have been more ship-shape to lower the 
 bight of a rope, or running bow line, below me, 
 than to seize an old seaman by his head-lanyard ; 
 but I suppose you are used to taking men by the 
 hair, and seeing you did me good instead of harm 
 thereby, why, it s the same thing, d ye see." 
 
 Marmaduke prevented any reply, and assuming 
 the direction of matters, with a dignity and discre 
 tion that at once silenced all opposition from his 
 cousin, Benjamin was despatched to the village by 
 land, and the net was hauled to shore in such a 
 manner that the fish, for once, escaped its meshes 
 with impunity. 
 
 The division of the spoils was made in the ordi 
 nary manner, by placing one of the party with his 
 back to the game, who declared the owner of each 
 pile. Billy Kirby stretched his large frame on the 
 grass, by the side of the fire, as a sentinel until 
 morning, over the net and the fish ; and the re 
 mainder of the party embarked in the oatteau, to 
 return to the village. 
 
364 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 The wood-chopper was seen broiling his suppe- 
 on the coals, as they lost sight of the fire ; and 
 when the boat approached the shore, the torch of 
 Mohegan s canoe was shining again under the 
 gloom of the eastern mountain. Its motion ceased 
 suddenly ; a scattering of brands was exhibited in 
 the air, and then all remained dark as the conjunc 
 tion of night, forests, and mountains, could rendei 
 the scene. 
 
 The thoughts of the heiress wandered from the 
 youth, who was holding a canopy of shawls over 
 herself and Louisa, to the hunter and the Indian 
 warrior ; and she felt an awakening curiosity to 
 visit a hut, where men of such different habits and 
 temperament were drawn together, as if by one 
 common impulse. 
 
CHAPTER XXY. 
 
 Ceaso all this parlance about bills and dales ; 
 None listen to thy scenes of boyish frolic, 
 Fond dotard ! with such tickled ears as thou dost ; 
 omo 1 to thy tale, 
 
 Duo 
 
 MR. JONES arose, on the following morning, with 
 the sun, and ordering his own and Marmaduke s 
 steeds to be saddled, he proceeded, with a coun 
 tenance that was big with some business of unusual 
 moment, to the apartment of the Judge. The dooi 
 was unfastened, and Richard entered, with the 
 freedom that characterized not only the inter 
 course between the cousins but the ordinary man 
 ners of the Sheriff. 
 
 " Well, duke, to horse," he cried, " and I will 
 explain to you my meaning in the allusions I made 
 last night. David says, in the Psalms no, it was 
 Solomon, but it was all in the family Solomon 
 said, there was a time for all things ; and in my 
 humble opinion, a fishing party is not the moment 
 for discussing important subjects Ha ! why, what 
 the devil ails you, Marmaduke ? an t you well ? 
 let me feel your pulse: my grandfather, you 
 know" 
 
 " Quite well in the body, Richard," interrupted 
 the Judge, repulsing his cousin, who was about to 
 assume the functions that properly belonged to Dr. 
 3] * 
 
366 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 Todd ; " but ill at heart. I received letters by the 
 post of last night, after we returned from the point, 
 and this among the number." 
 
 The Sheriff took the letter, but without turning 
 his eyes on the writing, for he was examining the 
 appearance of the other with astonishment. From 
 the face of his cousin, the gaze of Richard wander 
 ed to the table, which was covered with letters, 
 packets, and newspapers ; then to the apartment, 
 and all that it contained. On the bed there was 
 the impression that had been made by a human 
 form, but the coverings were unmoved, and every 
 thing indicated that the occupant of the room had 
 passed a sleepless night. The candles had burned 
 to the sockets, and had evidently extinguished 
 themselves in their own fragments. Marmaduke 
 had drawn his curtains, and opened both the shut 
 ters and the sashes, to admit the balmy air of a 
 spring morning ; but his pale cheek, his quivering 
 lip, and his sunken eye, presented, altogether, so 
 very different an appearance from the usual calm, 
 manly, and cheerful aspect of the Judge, that the 
 Sheriff grew each moment more and more bewil 
 dered with his astonishment. At length Richard 
 found time to cast his eyes on the direction of the 
 letter, which he still held unopened, crumbling it 
 in his hand. 
 
 " What ! a ship-letter !" he exclaimed : " and 
 from England ! ha ! duke, here must be news of 
 importance indeed !" 
 
 " Read it," said Marmaduke, waving his hand 
 for silence, and pacing the floor in excessive agi 
 tation. 
 
 Richard, who commonly thought aloud, was un 
 able to read a letter without suffering part of its 
 contents to escape him in audible sounds. So much 
 of the epistle as was divulged in that manner, we 
 
THE PIONEERS. 367 
 
 lay before the reader, accompanied by the 
 passing remarks of the Sheriff : 
 
 " London, February 12th, 1793. What a 
 devil of a passage she had ! but the wind has been 
 north-west for six weeks, until within the last fort 
 night. 
 
 Sir, your favours of August 10th, September 
 23d, and of December 1 st, were received in due sea 
 son, and the first answered by return of packet. 
 Since the receipt of the last, P Here a long pas 
 sage was rendered indistinct, by a most significant 
 kind of humming noise made by the Sheriff. I 
 grieve to say that hum, hum, bad enough to be 
 sure c but trust that a merciful Providence has 
 seen fit hum, hum, hum ; seems to be a good, 
 pious sort of a man, duke ; belongs to the esta 
 blished church, I dare say ; hum, hum c vessel 
 sailed from Falmouth on or about the 1st Septem 
 ber of last year, and hum, hum, hum. If any 
 thing should transpire on this afflicting subject, 
 shall not fail hum, hum ; really a good- hearted 
 man, for a lawyer, but can communicate nothing 
 further at present Hum, hum. c The national 
 convention hum, hum c unfortunate Louis 
 hum, hum c example of your Washington a very 
 sensible man, I declare, and none of your crazy 
 democrats. Hum, hum c our gallant navy hum, 
 hum c under our most excellent monarch ay, a 
 good man enough, that king George, but bad ad 
 visers ; hum, hum c I beg to conclude with as 
 surances of my perfect respect hum, hum 4 AN 
 DREW HOLT. Andrew Holt a very sensible, feel 
 ing man, this Mr. Andrew Holt but the writer of 
 evil tidings. What will you do next, cousin Mar- 
 maduke ?" 
 
 " What can I do, Richard, but trust to time and 
 the will of Heaven ? Here is another letter, from 
 
368 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 Connecticut, but it only repeats the substance of 
 the last. There is but one consoling reflection to 
 be gathered from the English news, which is, that 
 my last letter was received by him before the ship 
 sailed." 
 
 " This is bad enough indeed ! duke, bad enough 
 indeed ! and away go all my plans of putting wings 
 to the house, to the devil. I had made my ar 
 rangements for a ride, to introduce you to some 
 thing of a very important nature. You know how 
 much you think of mines" 
 
 " Talk not of mines," interrupted the Judge ; 
 " there is a sacred duty to be performed, and that 
 without delay. I must devote this day to writing ; 
 and thou must be my assistant, Richard ; it will not 
 do to employ Oliver in a matter of such secrecy 
 and interest." 
 
 " No, no, duke," cried the Sheriff, squeezing his 
 hand ; " I am your man, just now ; we are sisters* 
 children, and blood, after all, is the best cement to 
 make friendship stick together. Well, well, there 
 is no hurry about the silver mine, just now ; an 
 other time will do as well. We shall want Dirky 
 Van, I suppose ?" 
 
 Marmaduke assented to this indirect question, 
 and the sheriff relinquished all his intentions on the 
 subject of his ride, and repairing to the breakfast 
 parlour, he despatched a messenger to require the 
 immediate presence of Dirck Van der School. 
 
 The village of Templeton, at that time, support 
 ed but two lawyers, one of whom was introduced 
 to our readers in the bar-room of the " Bold Dra 
 goon," and the other was the gentleman of whom 
 Richard spoke, by the friendly yet familiar appella 
 tion of Dirck, or Dirky Van. Great good-nature, a 
 very tolerable share of skill in his profession, and, 
 considering the circumstances, no contemptible de- 
 
THE PIONEERS. 369 
 
 gree of honesty, were the principal ingredients to be 
 found in the character of this man, who was known 
 to the settlers as Squire Van der School, and some 
 times by the flattering, though anomalous title of 
 the " Dutch," or " honest lawyer." We would 
 not wish to mislead our readers in their concep 
 tions of any of our characters, and we therefore 
 feel it necessary to add, that the adjective, in the 
 preceding agnomen of Mr. Van der School, was 
 used in direct reference to its substantive. Our 
 orthodox friends need not be told, that all merit in 
 this world is comparative ; and, once for all, we 
 desire to say, that where any thing which involves 
 qualities or character is asserted, we must be un 
 derstood to mean, " under the circumstances." 
 
 During the remainder of the day, the Judge was 
 closeted with his cousin and his lawyer ; and no 
 one else was admitted to his apartment, excepting 
 his daughter. The deep distress, that so evidently 
 afflicted Marmaduke, was, in some measure, com 
 municated to Elizabeth also ; for a look of dejec 
 tion shaded her intelligent features, and the buoy 
 ancy of her animated spirits was sensibly softened. 
 Once on that day, young Edwards, who was a 
 wondering and observant spectator of the sudden 
 alteration produced in the heads of the family, de 
 tected a tear stealing over the cheek of the heir 
 ess, and suffusing her bright eyes with a softness 
 that did not always belong to their proud and 
 laughing expression. 
 
 " Have any evil tidings been received, Miss 
 Temple ?" he inquired, with an interest and voice 
 that caused Louisa Grant to raise her head from 
 her needlework, with a quickness at which she 
 instantly blushed herself. " I would offer my ser 
 vices to your father, if, as I suspect, he needs an 
 
370 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 agent in some distant place, and I thought it would 
 give you relief." 
 
 " We have certainly heard had news," returned 
 Elizabeth, " and it may be necessary that my fa 
 ther should leave his home for a short period ; un- 
 less I can persuade him to trust my cousin Richard 
 with the business, wLose absence from the county, 
 just at this time, too, might be inexpedient." 
 
 The youth paused a moment, and the blood ga 
 thered slowly to his temples, as he continued 
 
 " If it be of a nature that I could execute " 
 
 " It is such as can only be confided to one we 
 know one of ourselves." 
 
 " Surely, you know me, Miss Temple !" he 
 added, with a warmth that he seldom exhibited, 
 but which did sometimes escape him, in the mo 
 ments of their frank communications " Have I 
 lived five months under your roof, and yet a 
 stranger ?" 
 
 Elizabeth was engaged with her needle also, 
 and she bent her head to one side, affecting to ar 
 range her muslin ; but her hand shook, her colour 
 heightened, and her eyes lost their moisture in an 
 expression of ungovernable interest, as she said 
 
 " How much do we know of you, Mr. Ed 
 wards ?" 
 
 " How much !" echoed the youth, gazing from 
 the speaker to the mild countenance of Louisa, that 
 was also illuminated with awakened curiosity ; 
 " how much ! have I been so long an inmate with 
 you, and not known ?" 
 
 The head of Elizabeth turned slowly from its 
 affected position, and the look of confusion that 
 had blended so strongly with an expression of in 
 terest changed to a smile of archness, as she an 
 swered 
 
THE PIONEERS 371 
 
 " We know you, sir, indeed : you are called Mr. 
 Oliver Edwards. I understand that you have in 
 formed my friend, Miss Grant, that you are a na 
 tive" 
 
 " Elizabeth !" exclaimed Louisa, blushing to 
 her eyes, and trembling like an aspen ; " you mis 
 understood me, dear Miss Temple ; I I it was 
 only conjecture. Besides, if Mr. Edwards is re 
 lated to the natives, why should we reproach him ? 
 In w T hat are we better ? at least I, who am the 
 child of a poor and unsettled clergyman ?" 
 
 Elizabeth shook her head, doubtingly, and even 
 laughed, but made no reply, until, observing the 
 melancholy which pervaded the countenance of 
 her companion, who was thinking of the poverty 
 and labours of her father, she continued 
 
 " Nay, Louisa, your humility carries you too 
 far. The daughter of a minister of the church can 
 have no superiors. Neither I nor Mr. Edwards is 
 quite your equal, unless," she added, again smiling, 
 " he is in secret a king." 
 
 " A faithful servant of the King of kings, Miss 
 Temple, is inferior to none on earth," said Loui 
 sa ; " but his honours are his own ; I am only the 
 child of a poor and friendless man, and can claim 
 no other distinction. Why, then, should I feel 
 myself elevated above Mr. Edwards, because be 
 cause perhaps he is only very, very distantly re 
 lated to John Mohegan ?" 
 
 Glances of a very comprehensive meaning were 
 exchanged between the heiress and the young man, 
 as Louisa betrayed, while vindicating his lineage, 
 the reluctance with which she admitted his alli 
 ance to the old warrior; but not even a smile at 
 the simplicity of their companion was indulged by 
 either. 
 
 " On reflection, I must acknowledge that my 
 
372 
 
 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 situation here is somewhat equivocal," said Ed 
 wards, " though I may be said to have purchased 
 it with my blood." 
 
 " The blood, too, of one of the native lords of 
 the soil !" cried Elizabeth, whose melancholy had 
 vanished in the excitement of their dialogue. 
 
 u Do I bear the marks of my lineage so very 
 plainly impressed on my appearance ?" asked the 
 youth, with a little pique in his manner. " I am 
 dark, but not very red not more so than com 
 mon ?" 
 
 " Rather more so, just now," said the heiress. 
 
 " I am sure, Miss Temple," cried Louisa, " you 
 cannot have taken much notice of Mr. Edwards. 
 His eyes are not so black as Mohegan s, or even 
 your own, nor is his hair !" 
 
 " Very possibly, then, I can lay claim to the 
 same descent. It would be a great relief to my 
 mind to think so, for I own that I grieve when I 
 see old Mohegan walking about these lands, like 
 the ghost of one of their ancient possessors, and 
 feel how small is my right to possess them." 
 
 " Do you ?" cried the youth, with a vehemence 
 that startled the ladies. 
 
 " I do, indeed," returned Elizabeth, after suf 
 fering a moment to pass in her surprise ; " but 
 what can I do ? what can my father do ? Should 
 we offer the old man a home and a maintenance, 
 his habits would compel him to refuse us. Neither, 
 were we so silly as to wish such a thing, could we 
 convert these clearings and farms, again, into hunt 
 ing-grounds, as the Leather-stocking would wish 
 to see them." 
 
 " You speak the truth, Miss Temple," said Ed 
 wards. " What can you do, indeed ! But there 
 is one thing that I am certain you can and will do, 
 when you become the mistress of these beautiful 
 
THE PIONEERS. 373 
 
 valleys use your wealth with indulgence to the 
 poor and charity to the needy ; indeed, you can 
 do no more." 
 
 " And that will be doing a good deal," said 
 Louisa, smiling in her turn. " But there will, 
 doubtless, be one to take the direction of such 
 things from her hands." 
 
 " I am not about to disclaim matrimony," cried 
 the heiress, " like a silly girl, who dreams of no 
 thing else from morning till night ; but I am a nun, 
 here, without the vow of celibacy. Where should 
 i find a husband in these forests ?" 
 
 " There is none, Miss Temple," said Edwards, 
 quickly, " there is none who has a right to aspire 
 to you, and I know that you will assert the dignity 
 of your sex, and wait to be sought by your equal ; 
 or die, as you live, loved, respected, and admired, 
 by all who know you." 
 
 The young man seemed to think that he had 
 said all that was required by gallantry, for he arose, 
 and taking his hat, hurried from the apartment. 
 Perhaps Louisa thought that he had said more than 
 was necessary, for she sighed, with an aspiration 
 so low that it. was scarcely audible to heiself, and 
 bent her head over her work again. And it is 
 possible that Miss Temple wished to hear more, 
 for her eyes continued fixed, for a minute, on the 
 door through which the youth had passed, then 
 glanced quickly towards her companion, when the 
 long silence that succeeded manifested how much 
 zest may be given to the conversation of two maid 
 ens under eighteen, by the presence of a youth of 
 three and twenty. 
 
 The first person encountered by Mr. Edwards, 
 
 as he rather rushed than walked from the house, 
 
 was the little, square-built lawyer, with a large 
 
 bundle of papers ander his arm, a pair of green 
 
 32 
 
374 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 spectacles on his nose, with glasses at the sides, as 
 if to multiply his power of detecting frauds, by ad 
 ditional organs oi vision. 
 
 Mr. Van der School was a well-educated man, 
 but of a slow comprehension, who had imbibed a 
 wariness in his speeches and actions, from having 
 suffered by his collisions with his more mercurial 
 and apt brethren who had laid the foundations of 
 their practice in the eastern courts, and who had 
 sucked in shrewdness with their mother s milk. 
 The caution of this gentleman was exhibited in his 
 actions, by the utmost method and punctuality, 
 tinctured with a good deal of timidity ; and in his 
 speeches, by a parenthetical style, that frequently 
 left to his auditors a most delightful research aftei 
 his meaning. 
 
 "A good morning to you, Mr. Van der School, 
 said Edwards ; " it seems to be a busy day with 
 us at the Mansion-house." 
 
 " Good morning, Mr. Edwards, (if that is your 
 name, (for, being a stranger, we have no other evi 
 dence of the fact than your own testimony,) as I 
 understand you have given it to Judge Temple,) 
 good morning, sir. It is, apparently, a busy day, 
 (but a man of your discretion need not be told, 
 (having, doubtless, discovered it of your own ac 
 cord,) that appearances are often deceitful,) up at 
 the Mansion-house." 
 
 " Have you papers of consequence, that will re 
 quire copying ? can I be of assistance to you in any 
 way ?" 
 
 " There are papers, (as doubtless, you see (for 
 your eyes are young) by the outsides ) that require 
 copying." 
 
 " Well, then I will accompany you to your office, 
 and receive such as are most needed, and by night 
 I ihall have them done, if there be much haste." 
 
THE PIONEERS. 375 
 
 " I shall be always glad to see you, sir, at my 
 office, (as in duty bound, (not that it is obligatory 
 to receive any man within your dwelling, (unless 
 so inclined,) which is a castle,) according to the 
 forms of politeness, ) or at any other place ; but the 
 papers are most strictly confidential, (and as such, 
 cannot be read by any one,) unless so directed 
 (by Judge Temple s solemn injunctions ) and are in 
 visible to all eyes ; excepting those whose duties 
 (I mean assumed duties) require it of them." 
 
 " Well, sir, as I perceive that I can be of no ser 
 vice, I wish you another good morning ; but beg 
 you will remember, that I am quite idle, just now, 
 and I wish you would intimate as much to Judge 
 Temple, and make him a tender of my services, in 
 any part of the world ; unless unless it be far 
 from Templeton." 
 
 " I will make the communication, sir, in your 
 name, (with your own qualifications,) as your 
 agent. Good morning, sir. But stay proceedings, 
 Mr. Edwards, (so called,) for a moment. Do you 
 wish me to state the offer of travelling, as a final 
 contract, (for which consideration has been re 
 ceived, at former dates, (by sums advanced,) 
 which would be binding, ) or as a tender of services, 
 for which compensation is to be paid ( according to 
 future agreement between the parties) on per 
 formance of the conditions ?" 
 
 "Any way any way," said Edwards " he 
 seems in distress, and I would assist him." 
 
 ci The motive is good, sir, ( according to appear 
 ances, (which are often deceitful,) on first impres 
 sions, ) and does you honour. I will mention your 
 wish, young gentleman, (as you now seem,) and 
 will not fail to communicate the answer by five 
 o clock, P. M. of this present day, (God willing,) 
 if you give me an- opportunity so to do." 
 
376 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 The ambiguous nature of the situation and cha 
 racter of Mr. Edwards had rendered him an ob 
 ject of peculiar suspicion to the lawyer, and the 
 youth was consequently too much accustomed to 
 similar equivocal and guarded speeches, to fee) 
 any unusual disgust at the present dialogue. He 
 saw, at once, that it was the intention of the prac 
 titioner to conceal the nature of his business, even 
 from the private secretary of Judge Temple ; and 
 he knew too well the difficulty of comprehending 
 the meaning of Mr. Van der School, w r hen the gen 
 tleman most wished to be luminous in his discourse, 
 not to abandon all thoughts of a discovery, when 
 he perceived that the attorney was endeavouring 
 to avoid any thing like an approach to a cross exa 
 mination. They parted at the gate, the lawyer 
 walking, with an important and hurried air, to 
 wards his office, keeping his right hand firmly 
 clenched on the bundle of papers that his left arm 
 pressed to his side with a kind of convulsive mo 
 tion. 
 
 It must have been obvious to all our readers, 
 that the youth entertained an unusual and deeply 
 seated prejudice against the character of the Judge ; 
 but, owing to some counteracting cause, his sensa 
 tions were now those of powerful interest in the 
 state of his patron s present feelings, and in the 
 cause of his secret uneasiness. 
 
 He remained gazing after the lawyer, until the 
 door closed on both the bearer and the mysterious 
 packet, when he returned slowly to the dwelling, 
 and endeavoured to forget his curiosity, in the 
 usual avocations of his office. 
 
 When the Judge made his reappearance in the 
 circles of his family, his cheerfulness was temper 
 ed by a shade of melancholy, that lingered for ma 
 ny days around his manly brow ; -but the magical 
 
THE PIONEERS. 377 
 
 progression of the season aroused him from his 
 temporary apathy, and his smiles returned with 
 the animated looks of summer. 
 
 The heats of the days, and the frequent occur 
 rence of balmy showers, had completed, in an in 
 credibly short period, the growth of plants, which 
 the lingering spring had so long retarded in the 
 germ ; and the woods presented every shade of 
 green that the American forests know. The stumps 
 in the cleared fields were already hid beneath the 
 tops of the stalks of rich wheat that were waving 
 with every breath of the summer air, shining, and 
 changing their hues, like velvet. 
 
 During the continuance of his cousin s dejection, 
 Mr. Jones forbore, with much consideration, to 
 press on his attention a business that each hour 
 was drawing nearer to the heart of the Sheriff, and 
 which, if any opinion could be formed by his fre 
 quent private conferences with the man, who was 
 introduced in these pages, by the name of Jotham, at 
 the bar-room of the Bold Dragoon, was becoming 
 also of great importance. 
 
 At length the Sheriff ventured to allude again to 
 the subject, and one evening, in the beginning of 
 July, Marmaduke made him a promise of devoting 
 the following day to the desired excursion. 
 32* 
 
CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 Speak on, my dearest father I 
 Thy words are like the breezes of the west" 
 
 Milmait 
 
 IT was a mild and soft morning, when Manna- 
 duke and Richard mounted their horses, to pro 
 ceed on the expedition that had so long been upper 
 most in the thoughts of the latter ; and Elizabeth 
 and Louisa appeared at the same instant in the 
 hall, attired for an excursion on foot. 
 
 The head of Miss Grant was covered by a neat 
 little hat of green silk, and her modest eyes peered 
 from under its shade, with the soft languor that 
 characterized her whole appearance ; but Miss 
 Temple trod her father s wide apartments with the 
 step of their mistress, holding in her hand, dan 
 gling by one of its ribands, the gipsy that was to 
 conceal the glossy locks that curled around her 
 polished forehead, in rich profusion. 
 
 " What, are you for a walk, Bess !" cried the 
 Judge, suspending his movements for a moment, to 
 smile, with a father s fondness, at the display of 
 womanly grace and beauty that his child presented. 
 " Remember the heats of July, my daughter; nor 
 venture further than thou canst retrace before the 
 meridian. Where is thy parasol, girl ? thou wilt 
 
THE PIONEERS. 379 
 
 lose the polish of thy brow, under this sun and 
 southern breeze, unless thou guard it with unusual 
 care." 
 
 " I shall then do more honour to my connex 
 ions," returned the smiling daughter. " Cousin 
 Richard has a bloom that any lady might envy. At 
 present the resemblance between us is so trifling, 
 that no stranger would know us to be c sisters chil 
 dren. " 
 
 " Grand-children, you mean, cousin Bess," said 
 the Sheriff. " But on, Judge Temple ; time and 
 tide wait for no man ; and if you take my counsel, 
 sir, in twelve months from this day, you may make 
 an umbrella for your daughter of her camel s-hair 
 shawl, and have its frame of solid silver. I 
 ask nothing for myself, duke ; you have been a 
 good friend to me already ; besides, all that I have 
 will go to Bess, there, one of these melancholy 
 days, so it s as long as it s sho rt, where I or you 
 leave it. But we have a day s ride before us, sir ; 
 so move forward, or dismount, and say you won t 
 go, at once." 
 
 " Patience, patience, Dickon," returned the 
 Judge, checking his horse, and turning again to his 
 daughter. " If thou art for the mountains, love, 
 stray not too deep into the forest, I entreat thee ; 
 for, though it is done often with impunity, there is 
 sometimes danger." 
 
 " Not at this season, I believe, sir," said Eliza 
 beth ; "for, I will confess, it is the intention of 
 Louisa and myself to stroll among the hills." 
 
 " Less at this season than in the winter, dear ; 
 but still there may be danger in venturing too far. 
 But though thou a^t resolute, Elizabeth, thou art 
 too much like thy mother not to be prudent." 
 
 The eyes of the parent turned reluctantly from 
 the brilliant beauty of his child, and the Judge and 
 
380 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 Sheriff rode slowly through the gateway, and dis 
 appeared among the buildings of the village. 
 
 During this short dialogue, young Edwards had 
 stood, an attentive listener, holding in his hand a 
 fishing-rod, the day and the season having tempted 
 him also to desert the house, for the pleasure of 
 exercise in the air. As the equestrians turned 
 through the gate, he approached the young maid 
 ens, who were already moving on to the gravelled 
 walk that led to the street, and was about to ad 
 dress them, as Louisa paused, and said quickly 
 
 " Here is Mr. Edwards would speak to us, 
 Elizabeth." 
 
 The other stopped also, and turned to the youth, 
 politely, but with a slight coldness in her air, that 
 sensibly checked the freedom with which the gen 
 tleman had approached them. 
 
 " Your father is not pleased that you should 
 walk unattended in the hills, Miss Temple. If I 
 might offer myself as a protector" 
 
 " Does my father select Mr. Oliver Edwards as 
 the organ of his displeasure ?" interrupted the lady. 
 
 " Good Heaven ! you misunderstood my mean 
 ing," cried the youth ; " I should have said uneasy, 
 for not pleased. I am his servant, madam, and in 
 consequence yours. I repeat that, with your con 
 sent, I will change my rod for a fowling piece, and 
 keep nigh you on the mountain." 
 
 " I thank you, Mr. Edwards," returned Eliza 
 beth, suffering one of her fascinating smiles to chase 
 the trifling frown from her features ; " but where 
 there is no danger, no protection is required. We 
 are not yet, sir, reduced to wandering among these 
 free hills accompanied by a body-guard. If sucto 
 an one is necessary, there he is, however. Her*, 
 Brave, Brave my noble Brave !" 
 
 The huge mastiff that has been already mentio* 
 
THE PIONEERS. 381 
 
 ed, appeared from his kennel, gaping and stretching 
 himself, with a pampered laziness ; but as his mis 
 tress again called ". Come, dear Brave ; once have 
 you served your master well; let us see how you 
 can do your duty by his daughter" the dog wag 
 ged his tail, as if he understood her language, walk 
 ed with a stately gait to her side, where he seated 
 himself, and looked up at her face, with an intelli 
 gence but little inferior to that which beamed in 
 her own lovely countenance. 
 
 She resumed her walk, but again paused, after a 
 few steps, and added, in tones of conciliation 
 
 " You can be serving us equally, and, I presume, 
 more agreeably to yourself, Mr. Edwards, by bring 
 ing us a string of your favourite perch, for the din 
 ner-table." 
 
 When they again began to walk, Miss Temple 
 did not look back to see how the youth bore this 
 repulse ; but the head of Louisa was turned seve 
 ral times before they reached the gate, on that con 
 siderate errand. 
 
 " I am afraid, Elizabeth," she said, " that we 
 have mortified Oliver. He is still standing where 
 we left him, leaning on his rod. Perhaps he thinks 
 us proud." 
 
 " He thinks justly," exclaimed Miss Temple, as 
 if awaking from a deep musing ; " he thinks justly, 
 then. We are too proud to admit of such particu 
 lar attentions from a young man in an equivocal 
 situation. What ! make him the companion of our 
 most private walks ! It is pride, Louisa, but it is 
 the pride of a woman." 
 
 It was several minutes before Oliver aroused 
 himself from the abstracted position in which he 
 was standing when Louisa last saw him ; but when 
 he did, he muttered something rapidly and inco 
 herently, and throwing his rod over his shoulder, 
 
382 THE PIONEERi. 
 
 he strode down the walk, through the gate, and 
 along one of the streets of the village, until he 
 reached the lake-shore, with the air of an emperor. 
 At this spot boats were kept for the use of Judge 
 Temple and his family. The young man threw 
 himself into a light skiff, and seizing the oars, he 
 sent it across the lake towards the hut of Leather- 
 stocking, with a pair of vigorous arms. By the 
 time he had rowed a quarter of a mile, his reflec 
 tions were less bitter ; and when he saw the bushes 
 that lined the shore in front of Natty s habitation 
 gliding by him, as if they possessed the motion 
 which proceeded from his own efforts, he was quite 
 cooled in mind, though somewhat heated in body. 
 It is quite possible, that the very same reason which 
 guided the conduct of Miss Temple, suggested it 
 self to a man of the breeding and education of the 
 youth ; and it is very certain, that if such were the 
 case, Elizabeth rose instead of falling in the esti 
 mation of Mr. Edwards. 
 
 The oars were now raised from the water, and 
 the boat shot close in to the land, where it lay gently 
 agitated by waves of its own creating, while the 
 young man, first casting a cautious and searching 
 glance around him in every direction, put a small 
 whistle to his mouth, and blew a long, shrill note, 
 that rung far among the echoing rocks behind the 
 hut. At this alarm, the hounds of Natty rushed 
 out of their bark kennel, and commenced their long, 
 piteous howls, leaping about as if half frantic, though 
 restrained by the leashes of buck-skin, by which 
 they were fastened. 
 
 " Quiet, Hector, quiet," said Oliver, again ap 
 plying his whistle to his mouth, and drawing out 
 notes still more shrill than before. No reply was 
 made, the dogs having returned to their kennel at 
 the sounds of his voice. 
 
THE PIONEERS. 383 
 
 Edwards pulled the bows of the boat on to the 
 shore, and landing, ascended the beach and ap 
 proached the door of the cabin. The fastenings 
 were soon undone, and he entered, closing the 
 door after him, when all was as silent, in that re 
 tired spot, as if the foot of man had never trod 
 the wilderness. The sounds of the hammers, that 
 were in incessant motion in the village, were faintly 
 heard across the water ; but the dogs had crouched 
 into their lairs, well satisfied that none but the pri 
 vileged had approached the forbidden ground. 
 
 A quarter of an hour elapsed before the youth 
 re-appeared, when he fastened the door again, and 
 spoke kindly to the hounds. The dogs came out 
 at the well-known tones, and the slut jumped upon 
 his person, whining and barking, as if entreating 
 Oliver to release her from her prison. But Old 
 Hector raised his nose to the light current of air, 
 and opened a long howl, that might have been 
 heard for a mile. 
 
 " Ha ! what do you scent, my old veteran of the 
 woods ?" cried Edwards. " If a beast, it is a bold 
 one, and if a man, an impudent." 
 
 He sprung through the top of a pine that had 
 fallen near the side of the hut, and ascended a 
 small hillock that sheltered the cabin to the south, 
 where he caught a glimpse of the formal figure of 
 Hiram Doolittle, as it vanished with an unusual ra 
 pidity for the architect, amid the trees and bushes. 
 
 " What can that fellow be wanting here ?" mut- 
 ered Oliver. " He has no business in this quar 
 ter, unless it be his curiosity, which is an endemic 
 in these woods. But against that I will effectually 
 guard, though the dogs should take a liking to hil? 
 ugly visage, and let him pass." The youth re 
 turned to the door, while giving vent to this solilo 
 quy, and completed the fastenings, ty placing a 
 
384 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 small chain through a staple, and securing it there 
 by a padlock. " He is a pettifogger, and surely 
 must know that there is such a thing as feloniously 
 breaking into a man s house/ 
 
 Apparently well satisfied with this arrangement, 
 the youth again spoke to the hounds; and, de 
 scending to the shore, he launched his boat, and 
 taking up his oars, pulled off into the lake. 
 
 There were several places in the Otsego that 
 were celebrated as fishing-ground for the perch. 
 One was nearly opposite to the cabin, and another, 
 still more famous, was near a point, at the distance 
 of a mile and a half above it, under the brow of 
 the mountain, and on the same side of the lake 
 with the hut. Oliver Edwards pulled his little 
 skiff over the first, and sat, for a minute, undecided 
 whether to continue there, with his eyes on the 
 door of the cabin, or to change his ground, with a 
 view to get superior game. While gazing about 
 him, he saw the light-coloured bark canoe of his 
 old companions, riding on the water, at the point 
 we have mentioned, and containing two figures, 
 that he at once knew to be Mohegan and the 
 Leather-stocking. This decided the matter, and 
 the youth pulled his little boat, in a very few mi 
 nutes, to the place where his friends were fishing, 
 and fastened it to the light vessel of the Indian. 
 
 The old men received Oliver with welcoming 
 nods of their heads, but neither drew his line from 
 the water, nor, in the least, varied his occupation. 
 When Edwards had secured his own boat, he bait 
 ed his hook and threw it into the lake, without 
 speaking. 
 
 " Did you stop at the wigwam, lad, as you row 
 ed by ?" asked Natty. 
 
 " Yes, and I found all safe ; but that carpenter 
 and justice of the peace, Mr. or, as they call him, 
 
THE PIONEERS. 385 
 
 Squire Dooiittle, was prowling through the woods, 
 nigh by. But I made sure of the door, before I 
 left the hut, and I think he is too great a coward 
 to approach the hounds." 
 
 " There s little to be said in favour of that man," 
 said Natty, while he drew in a perch and baited his 
 hook. " He craves dreadfully to come into the 
 cabin, and has as good as asked me as much to my 
 face ; but I put him off with unsartain answers, so 
 that he is no wiser than Solomon. This comes of 
 having so many laws that such a man may be call 
 ed on to intarpret them." 
 
 " I fear he is more knave than fool," cried Ed 
 wards ; " I see that he makes a tool of that simple 
 man, the Sheriff, and I dread that his impertinent 
 curiosity may yet give us much trouble." 
 
 " If he harbours too much about the cabin, lad, 
 I ll shoot the creater," said the Leather-stocking, 
 quite coolly. 
 
 " No, no, Natty, you must remember the law," 
 said Edwards, " or we shall have you in trouble ; 
 and that, old man, would be an evil day, and sore 
 tidings to us all." 
 
 " Would it, boy !" exclaimed the hunter, raising 
 his eyes with a look of friendly interest towards 
 the youth. " You have the true blood in your 
 veins, Mr. Oliver, and I ll support it, to the face 
 of Judge Temple, or in any court in the country. 
 How is it, John ? do I speak the true word ? is the 
 lad staunch, and of the right blood?" 
 
 " He is a Delaware," said Mohegan, " and my 
 brother. The young Eagle is brave, and he will 
 be a chief. No harm can come." 
 
 " Well, well," cried the youth, impatiently , 
 " say no more about it, my good friends ; if I am 
 not all that your partiality would make me, I am 
 33 
 
386 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 yours through life in prosperity as in poverty. 
 But now we will talk of other matters." 
 
 The old hunters yielded to his wish, which 
 seemed to be their law. For a short time a pro 
 found silence prevailed, during which each man 
 was very busy with his hook and line ; but Ed 
 wards, probably feeling that it remained with him 
 to renew the discourse, soon observed, with the 
 air of one who knew not what he said 
 
 " How beautifully tranquil and glassy the lake 
 is. Saw you it ever more calm and even than at 
 this moment, Natty ?" 
 
 " I have known the Otsego water for five-and- 
 forty years," said Leather-stocking, " and I will 
 say that for it, which is, that a cleaner spring or a 
 better fishing is not to be found in the land. Yes, 
 yes I had the place to myself once ; and a cheer 
 ful time I had of it. The game was as plenty as 
 heart could wish, and there was none to meddle 
 with the ground, unless there might have been a 
 hunting party of the Delawares crossing the hills, 
 or, maybe, a rifling scout of them thieves, the Iro- 
 quois. There was one or two Frenchmen that 
 squatted in the flats, further west, and married 
 squaws ; and some of the Scotch-Irishers, from the 
 Cherry Valley, would come on to the lake, and 
 borrow my canoe, to take a mess of parch, or drop 
 a line for a salmon-trout ; but, in the main, it was 
 a cheerful place, and I had but little to disturb me 
 in it. John would come, and John knows." 
 
 Mohegan turned his dark face, at this appeal, 
 and, moving his hand forward with a graceful mo 
 tion of assent, he spoke, using the Delaware lan 
 guage 
 
 " The land was owned by my people; we gave 
 it to my brother, in council- -to the Fire-Eater ; 
 
THE PIONEERS. 387 
 
 and what the Delawares give, lasts as long as the 
 waters run. Hawk-eye smoked at that council, 
 for we loved him." 
 
 " No, no, John," said Natty, " I was no chief, 
 seeing that I know d nothing of scholarship, and 
 had a white skin. But it was a comfortable hunt 
 ing-ground then, lad, and would have been so to 
 this day, but for the money of Marmaduke Temple, 
 and, maybe, the twisty ways of the law." 
 
 " It must have been a sight of melancholy plea 
 sure, indeed," said Edwards, while his eye roved 
 along the shores and over the hills, where the 
 clearings, groaning with the golden corn, were 
 cheering the forests with the signs of life, " to have 
 roamed over these mountains, and along this sheet 
 of beautiful water, without a living soul to speak 
 to, or to thwart your humour." 
 
 " Haven t I said it was a cheerful !" said Lea 
 ther-stocking. " Yes, yes when the trees begun 
 to be kivered with the leaves, and the ice was out 
 of the lake, it was a second paradise. I have tra 
 velled the woods for fifty-three years, and have 
 made them my home for more than forty, and I can 
 say that I have met but one place that was more to 
 my liking ; and that was only to eyesight, and not 
 for hunting or fishing." 
 
 " And where was that ?" asked Edwards. 
 
 " Where ! why up on the Cattskills. I used 
 often to go up into the mountains after wolves 
 skins, and bears ; once they bought me to get them 
 a stuffed painter ; and so I often went. There s a 
 place in them hills that I used to climb to when I 
 wanted to see the carryings on of the w r orld, that 
 would well pay any man for a barked shin or a torn 
 moccasin. You know the Cattskills, lad, for you 
 must have seen them on your left, as you followed 
 the river up from York, looking as blue as a piece 
 
388 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 of clear sky, and holding the clouds on their tops, 
 as the smoke curls over the head of an Indian chief 
 at a council fire. Well, there s the High-peak and 
 the Round-top, which lay back, like a father and 
 mother among their children, seeing they are fai 
 above all the other hills. But the place I mean is 
 next to the river, where one of the ridges juts out 
 a little from the rest, and where the rocks fall for 
 the best part of a thousand feet, so much up and 
 down, that a man standing on their edges is fool 
 enough to think he can jump from top to bottom." 
 
 " What see you when you get there ?" asked 
 Edwards. 
 
 " Creation !" said Natty, dropping the end of his 
 rod into the water, and sweeping one hand around 
 him in a circle u all creation, lad. I was on that 
 hill when Vaughan burnt Sopus, in the last war, 
 and I seen the vessels come out of the/ Highlands 
 as plain as I can see that lime-scow rowing into the 
 Susquehanna, though one was twenty times further 
 from me than the other. The river was in sight 
 for seventy miles, under my feet, looking like a 
 curled shaving, though it was eight long miles to 
 its banks. I saw the hills in the Hampshire grants, 
 the high lands of the river, and all that God had 
 done or man could do, as far as eye could reach 
 you know that the Indians named me for my 
 sight, lad and from the flat on the top of that 
 mountain, I have often found the place where Al 
 bany stands ; and as for Sopus ! the day the royal 
 troops burnt the town, the smoke seemed so nigh, 
 that I thought I could hear the screeches of the 
 women." 
 
 " It must have been worth the toil, to meet with 
 such a glorious view !" 
 
 " If being the best part of a mile in the air, and 
 having men s farms and housen at your feet, with 
 
THE PIONEERS. 389 
 
 rivers looking like ribands, and mountains bigger 
 than the c Vision, seeming to be haystacks of 
 green grass under you, gives any satisfaction to a 
 man, I can recommend the spot. When I first 
 come into the woods to live, I used to have weak 
 spells, and I felt lonesome ; and then I would go 
 into the Cattskills and spend a few days on that 
 hill, to look at the ways of man ; but it s now many 
 a year since I felt any such longings, and I m get 
 ting too old for them rugged rocks. But there s a 
 place, a short two miles back of that very hill, that 
 in late times I relished better than the mountain ; 
 for it was more kivered with the trees, and more 
 nateral." 
 
 " And where was that ?" inquired Edwards, 
 whose curiosity was strongly excited by the simple 
 description of the hunter. 
 
 " Why, there s a fall in the hills, where the wa 
 ter of two little ponds that lie near each other 
 breaks out of their bounds, and runs over the rocks 
 into the valley. The stream is, maybe, such a 
 one as would turn a mill, if so useless a thing was 
 wanted in the wilderness. But the hand that made 
 that Leap never made a mill ! There the water 
 comes crooking and winding among the rocks, first 
 so slow that a trout could swim in it, and then start 
 ing and running just like any creater that wanted 
 to make a far spring, -till it gets to where the moun 
 tain divides, like the cleft hoof of a deer, leaving a 
 deep hollow for the brook to tumble into. The 
 first pitch is nigh two hundred feet, and the water 
 looks like flakes of driven snow, afore it touches 
 the bottom ; and there the stream gathers itself to 
 gether again for a new start, and maybe flutters 
 over fifty feet of flat-rock, before it falls for another 
 hundred, when it jumps about from shelf to shelf, 
 first turning this-away and then turning that-away, 
 33* 
 
390 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 striving to get out of the hollow, till it finally comes 
 to the plain." 
 
 " I have never heard of this spot before !" ex 
 claimed Edwards ; " it is not mentioned in the 
 books." 
 
 " I never read a book in my life," said Leather- 
 stocking ; " and how should a man who has lived 
 *n towns and schools know any thing about the 
 wonders of the woods ! No, no, lad; there has that 
 .ittle stream of water been playing among them 
 jills, since He made the world, and not a dozen 
 white men have ever laid eyes on it. The rock 
 sweeps like mason- work, in a half-round, on both 
 sides of the fall, and shelves over the bottom for 
 fifty feet ; so that when I ve been sitting at the 
 "cot of the first pitch, and my hounds have run into 
 the caverns behind the sheet of water, they ve 
 .ooked no bigger than so many rabbits. To my 
 t udgment, lad, it s the best piece of work that I ve 
 met with in the woods ; and none know how often 
 the hand of God is seen in a wilderness, but them 
 that rovr it for a man s life." 
 
 " What becomes of the water ? in which direc 
 tion does it run ? Is it a tributary of the Delaware ?" 
 
 " Anan !" said Natty. 
 
 " Does the water run into the Delaware ?" 
 
 " No, no, it s a drop for the old Hudson ; and a 
 merry time it has till it gets down off the moun 
 tain. I ve sat on the shelving rock many a long 
 nour, boy, and watched the bubbles as they shot 
 by me, and thought how long it would be before 
 that very water, which seemed made for the wil 
 derness, would be under the bottom of a vessel, 
 and tossing in the salt sea. It is a spot to make 
 a man solemnize. You can see right down into 
 the valley that lies to the east oi the High-Peak, 
 where, in the fall of the year, thousands of acres 
 
THE PIONEERS. 391 
 
 of woods are before your eyes, in the deep hollow, 
 and along the side of the mountain, painted like 
 ten thousand rainbows, by no hand of man, though 
 without the ordering of God s providence." 
 
 " Why, you are eloquent, Leather-stocking," ex 
 claimed the youth. 
 
 " Anan !" repeated Natty. 
 
 " The recollection of the sight has warmed your 
 blood, old man. How many years is it since you 
 saw the place ?" 
 
 The hunter made no reply ; but, bending his ear 
 near to the water, he sat for a minute holding his 
 breath, and listening attentively as if to some dis 
 tant sound. At length he raised his head, and 
 said 
 
 " If I hadn t fastened the hounds with my own 
 hands, with a fresh leash of green buck-skin, I d 
 take a Bible oath that I heard old Hector ringing 
 his cry on the mountain." 
 
 " It is impossible," said Edwards, " It is not an 
 hour since I saw him in his kennel." 
 
 By this time the attention of Mohegan was at 
 tracted to the sounds ; but, notwithstanding the 
 youth was both silent and attentive, he could hear 
 nothing but the lowing of some cattle from the 
 western hills. He looked at the old men, Natty 
 sitting with his hand to his ear, like a trumpet, and 
 Mohegan bending forward, with his arm raised to 
 a level with his face, holding the fore-finger ele 
 vated as a signal for attention, and laughed aloud 
 at what he deemed to be their imaginary sounds. 
 
 " Laugh if you will, boy," said Leather-stock 
 ing, " the hounds be out, and are hunting a deer. 
 No man can deceive me in such a manner. I 
 wouldn t have had the thing happen for a beaver s 
 skin. Not that I care for the law ! but the veni 
 son is lean now, and the dumb things run the flesh 
 
392 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 off their bones for no good. Now do you hear 
 the hounds ?" 
 
 Edwards started, as a full cry hroke on his ear, 
 changing from the distant sounds that were caused 
 by some intervening hill, to the confused echoes 
 that rung among the rocks that the dogs were 
 passing, and then directly to a deep and hollow 
 baying that pealed under the forest on the lake 
 shore. These variations in the tones of the hounds 
 passed with amazing rapidity, and while his eyes 
 were glancing along the margin of the water, a 
 tearing of the branches of the alder and dog-wood 
 caught his attention, at a spot near them, and at the 
 next moment a noble buck sprung on the shore, 
 and buried himself in the lake. A full-mouthed 
 cry, directly from the lungs of the hounds, follow 
 ed, when Hector and the slut shot through the 
 opening in the bushes, and darted into the lake 
 also, bearing their treasts most gallantly to the 
 water. 
 
CHAPTEE XXVII. 
 
 " Oft in the full descending flood he tries 
 To lose the scent, and lave his burning sides." 
 Thomson 
 
 " I KNOW D it I know d it !" cried Natty, when 
 both deer and hounds were in full view; " the 
 ouck has gone by them with the wind, and it has 
 been too much for the poor rogues ; but I must 
 break them of these tricks, or they ll give me a 
 deal of trouble. He-ere, he-ere shore with you, 
 rascals shore with you will ye ? Oh ! off witfy 
 you, old Hector, or I ll hatchel your hide with my 
 ramrod when I get ye." 
 
 The dogs knew their master s voice, and after 
 swimming in a circle, as if reluctant to give over 
 the chase, and yet afraid to persevere, they finally 
 obeyed, and returned to the land, where they fill 
 ed the air with their bowlings and cries. 
 
 In the mean time the deer, urged by his fears, 
 had swam over half the distance between the shore 
 and the boats, before his terror permitted him to 
 see the new danger. But at the sounds of Natty s 
 voice, he turned short in his course, and for a few 
 moments seemed about to rush back again, and 
 brave the dogs. His retreat in this direction was, 
 however, effectually cut off, and turning a second 
 time, he urged his course obliquely for the centre 
 of the lake, with an intention of landing on the 
 
394 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 western shore. As the buck swam by the fisher 
 men, raising his nose high into the air, curling the 
 water before his slim neck like the beak of a gal 
 ley, throwing his legs forward, and gliding along 
 with incredible velocity, the Leather-stocking be 
 gan to sit very uneasy in his canoe. 
 
 " Tis a noble creater !" he exclaimed ; u what a 
 pair of horns ! a man might hang up all his gar 
 ments on the branches. Let me see July is the 
 last month, and the flesh must be getting good." 
 While he was talking, Natty had instinctively em 
 ployed himself in fastening the inner end of the 
 bark rope, that served him for a cable, to a pad 
 dle, and, rising suddenly on his legs, he cast this 
 buoy away from him, and cried " Strike out, 
 John ! let her go. The creater s a fool to tempt a 
 man in this way." 
 
 Mohegan threw the fastening of the youth s boat 
 off the canoe, and with one stroke of his paddle 
 sent the light bark over the water like a meteor. 
 
 " Hold !" exclaimed Edwards. " Remember the 
 law, my old friends. You are in plain sight of the 
 village, and I know that Judge Temple is deter 
 mined to prosecute all, indiscriminately, who kill 
 the deer out of season." 
 
 But the remonstrance came too late : the canoe 
 was already far from the skiff, and the two hunters 
 too much engaged in their pursuit to listen to his 
 voice. 
 
 The buck was now within fifty yards of his pur 
 suers, cutting the water most gallantly, and snort 
 ing at each breath with his terror and his exertions, 
 while the canoe seemed to dance over the waves, 
 as it rose and fell with the undulations made by 
 its own motion. Leather-stocking raised his rifle 
 and freshened the priming, but stood in s 
 
THE PIONEERS. 395 
 
 * Shall I, John, or no ?" he said. " It seems but 
 a poor advantage to take of the dumb thing too. I 
 won t ; it has taken to the water on its own nater, 
 which is the reason that God has given to a deer, 
 and I ll give it the lake play ; so, John, lay out 
 your armband mind the turn of the buck ; its easy 
 to catch them, but they ll turn like a snake." 
 
 The Indian laughed at the conceit of his friend, 
 but continued to send the canoe forward with a ve 
 locity that proceeded much more from his skill 
 than his strength. Both of the old men now used 
 the language of the Delawares when they spoke. 
 
 " Hooh !" exclaimed Mohegan ; " the deer turns 
 his head. Hawk-eye, lift your spear." 
 
 Natty never moved abroad without taking with 
 him every implement that might, by possibility, be 
 of service in his pursuits. From his rifle he never 
 parted; and although intending to fish with the 
 line, the canoe was invariably furnished with all of 
 its utensils, even to its grate. This precaution 
 grew out of the habits of the hunter, who was often 
 led, by his necessities or his sports, far beyond the 
 limits of his original destination. A few years ear 
 lier than the date of our tale, the Leather-stocking 
 had left his hut on the shores of the Otsego, with 
 his rifle and his hounds, for a few days hunting 
 in the hills ; but before he returned he had seen 
 the waters of the Ontario. One, two, or even 
 three hundred miles had once been nothing to his 
 sinews, which were now a little stiffened by age. 
 The hunter did as Mohegan advised, and prepared 
 to strike a blow with the barbed weapon into the 
 neck of the buck. 
 
 " Lay her more to the left, John," he cried, "lay 
 her moie to the left ; another stroke of the paddle, 
 and I have him." 
 
 While speaking, he raised *he spear, and darted 
 
396 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 it from him like an arrow. At that instant the buck 
 turned, the long pole glanced by him, the iron 
 striking against his horn, and buried itself, harm 
 lessly, in the lake. 
 
 " Back water," cried Natty, as the canoe glided 
 over the place where the spear had fallen, " hold 
 water, John." 
 
 The pole soon reappeared, shooting upward from 
 the lake, and as the hunter seized it in his hand, 
 the Indian whirled the light canoe round, where it 
 lay, and renewed the chase. But this evolution 
 gave the buck a great advantage ; and it also allow 
 ed time for Edwards to approach the scene of ac 
 tion. 
 
 " Hold your hand, Natty," cried the youth, 
 " hold your hand ; remember it is out of season." 
 
 This remonstrance was made as the batteau ar 
 rived close to where the deer was struggling with 
 the water, his back now rising to the surface, now 
 sinking beneath it, as the waves curled from his 
 neck, the animal sustaining itself nobly against the 
 odds. 
 
 " Hurrah !" shouted Edwards, inflamed beyond 
 prudence at the sight ; " mind him as he doubles 
 mind him as he doubles ; sheer more to the right, 
 Mohegan, more to the right, and I ll have him by 
 the horns ; I ll throw the rope over his antlers." 
 
 The dark eye of the old warrior w r as dancing in 
 his head, with a wild animation, as bright and natu 
 ral as the rays that shot from the glancing eyes of 
 the terrified deer himself, and the sluggish repose 
 in which his aged frame had been resting in the 
 canoe, was now changed to all the rapid inflections 
 of practised agility. The canoe whirled with each 
 cunning evolution of the chase, like a bubble float 
 ing in a whirlpool ; and when the direction of the 
 pursuit admitted, for a short distance, of a straight 
 
THE PIONEERS. 397 
 
 course, the little bark skimmed the lake with a ve 
 locity that urged the deer to seek its safety in some 
 new and unexpected turn. It was the frequency 
 of these circuitous movements, that, by confining 
 the action to so small a compass, enabled the youth 
 to keep near his companions. More than twenty 
 times both the pursued and the pursuers glided by 
 him, just without the reach of his oars, until he 
 thought the best way to view the sport was to re 
 main stationary, and, by watching a favourable op 
 portunity, assist as much as he could in taking their 
 intended victim. 
 
 He was not required to wait long, for no sooner 
 had he adopted this resolution, and risen in the 
 boat, than he saw the deer coming bravely towards 
 him, with an apparent intention of pushing for a 
 point of land at some distance from the hounds, 
 who were still barking and howling on the shore. 
 Edwards caught the painter of his skiff, and, mak 
 ing a noose, cast it from him with all his force, 
 and luckily succeeded in drawing its knot close 
 around one of the antlers of the buck. 
 
 For one instant, the skiff was drawn through the 
 water, but in the next, the canoe glided before it, 
 and Natty, bending low, passed his knife across the 
 throat of the animal, whose blood followed the 
 wound, dying the waters for many feet. The short 
 time that was passed in the last struggles of the 
 animal was spent by the hunters in bringing their 
 boats together, and securing them in that position, 
 when Leather-stocking drew the deer from the 
 water, and laid its lifeless form in the bottom of the 
 canoe. He placed his hands on the ribs, and on 
 different parts of the body of his prize, and then, 
 raising his head, he laughed in his peculiar man 
 ner, saying 
 
 " So much for Marmaduke Temple s law f This 
 34 
 
398 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 warms a body s blood, old John ; I havn t killed a 
 buck in the lake afore this, sin this many a year. 
 I call that good venison, lad ; and I know them that 
 will relish the creater s steaks, for all the better 
 ments in the land." 
 
 The Indian had long been drooping with his 
 years, and perhaps under the calamities of his race, 
 but this invigorating and exciting sport had caused a 
 gleam of sunshine to cross his swarthy face that had 
 long been absent from his features. It was evident 
 that the old man enjoyed the chase more as a me - 
 morial of his youthful sports and deeds, than with 
 any expectation of profiting by the success. He 
 felt the deer, however, lightly, his hand already 
 trembling with the reaction of his unusual exer 
 tions, and smiled with a nod of approbation, as he 
 said, in the emphatic and sententious manner of 
 his people 
 
 " Good." 
 
 " I am afraid, Natty," said Edwards, when the 
 heat of the moment had passed, and his blood be 
 gan to cool, " that we have all been equally trans 
 gressors of the law. But keep your own counsel, 
 and there are none here to betray us. Yet, how 
 came those dogs at large ?" I left them securely 
 fastened, I know, for I felt the thongs, and examin 
 ed the knots, when I was at the hut." 
 
 " It has been too much for the poor things," said 
 Natty, " to have such a buck take the wind of them, 
 See, lad, the pieces of the buck-skin are hanging 
 from their necks yet. Let us paddle up, John, and 
 I will call them in, and look a little into the mat 
 ter." 
 
 When the old hunter landed, and examined the 
 thongs that were yet fast to the hounds, his coun 
 tenance sensibly changed, and he shook his head 
 doubtingly. 
 
THE PIONEERS. 399 
 
 " Here has been a knife at work," he said 
 " this skin was never torn, nor is this the mark of 
 a hound s tooth. No, no Hector is not in fault, 
 as I feared." 
 
 " Has the leather been cut ?" cried Edwards. 
 
 " No, no I didn t say it had been cut, lad ; but 
 this is a mark that was never made by a jump or a 
 bite." 
 
 " Could that rascally carpenter have dared !" 
 exclaimed the impetuous youth. 
 
 "Ay ! he durst to do any thing, where there is 
 no danger," said Natty ; " he is a curious body, and 
 loves to be helping other people on with their con- 
 sarns. But he had best not harbour so much near 
 the wigwam !" 
 
 In the mean time, Mohegan had been examin 
 ing, with an Indian s sagacity, the place where the 
 leather thong had been separated. After scrutinis 
 ing it closely, he said, in Delaware 
 
 " It was cut with a knife a sharp blade and a 
 long handle and the man was afraid of the dogs." 
 
 " How is this, Mohegan ?" exclaimed Edwards ; 
 * c You saw it not ! how can you know these facts ?" 
 
 " Listen, son," said the warrior. " The knife 
 was sharp, for the cut is smooth ; the handle was 
 long, for a man s arm would not reach from this 
 gash to that cut that did not go through the skin ; 
 he was a coward, or he would have cut the thongs 
 around the necks of the hounds." 
 
 " On my life," cried Natty, " John is on the 
 scent ! It was that carpenter ; and he has got on 
 the rock back of the kennel, and let the dogs loose 
 by fastening his knife to a stick. It would be an 
 easy matter to do it, when a man is so minded." 
 
 " And why should he do so ?" asked Edwards ; 
 " who has done him wrong, that he should trouble 
 two old men like you ?" 
 
400 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 " It s a hard matter, lad, to know men s ways, I 
 find, since the settlers have brought in their new 
 fashions. But is there nothing to be found out in 
 this place ? and maybe he is troubled with his long 
 ings after other people s business, as he often is." 
 
 " Your suspicions are just," cried the youth, 
 " Give me the canoe : I am young and strong, and 
 will get down there yet, perhaps, in time to inter 
 rupt his plans. Heaven forbid, that we should be 
 at the mercy of such a man !" 
 
 His proposal was instantly accepted, the deer 
 being placed in the skiff in order to lighten the ca 
 noe, and in less than five minutes the little vessel 
 of bark was gliding over the glassy lake, and was 
 soon hid by the points of land, as it shot close 
 along the shore. 
 
 Mohegan followed slowly with the skiff, while 
 Natty called his hounds to him, bade them keep 
 close, and, shouldering his rifle, he ascended the 
 mountain, with an intention of going to the hut by 
 land. 
 
CHAPTER XXYII1 
 
 Ask me not what the maiden feel* 
 Left in that dreadful hour alone ; 
 
 Perchance, her reason stoops, or reels, 
 Perchance, a courage not her own, 
 Braces her mind to desperate tone ?J 
 
 Scott. 
 
 WHILE the chase was occurring on the lake? 
 Miss Temple and her companion pursued their 
 walk with the activity of youth. Male attendants 
 on such excursions, were thought to be altogether ur> 
 necessary, for none were ever known, there, to offer 
 an insult to a female who respected the dignity of 
 her own sex. After the embarrassment, that had 
 been created by their parting discourse with Ed 
 wards, had dissipated itself, the girls maintained a 
 conversation that was as innocent and cheerful as 
 themselves. 
 
 The path they had taken led them but a short 
 distance above the hut of Leather-stocking, and 
 there was a point in the road which commanded a 
 birds-eye view of the sequestered spot. 
 
 From a feeling, that might have been natural, 
 but must have been powerful, neither of the maid 
 ens, in their frequent and confidential dialogues, 
 had ever trusted herself to utter one syllable con 
 cerning the equivocal situation in which the young 
 man, who was now so intimately associated with 
 them, had been found. If Judge Temple had deem 
 ed it prudent to make any inquiries on the subject, 
 
402 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 he had also thought it proper to keep the answers 
 to himself; though it was so common an occur 
 rence to find the well-educated youth of the east 
 ern states in every stage of their career to wealth, 
 that the simple circumstance of his intelligence, 
 connected with his poverty, would not, at that day, 
 and in that country, have excited any very power 
 ful curiosity. With his breeding, it might have 
 oeen different ; but the youth himself had so ef 
 fectually guarded against any surprise on this sub 
 ject, by his cold, and even in some cases, rude de 
 portment, that when his manners seemed to soften 
 by time, the Judge, if he thought about it at all, 
 would have been most likely to imagine that the 
 improvement was the result of his late association. 
 But women are always more alive to such subjects 
 than men ; and what the abstraction of the father 
 had overlooked, the observation of the daughter 
 had easily detected. In the thousand little courte 
 sies of polished life, she had early discovered that 
 Edwards was not wanting, though his gentlenesa 
 was so often crossed by marks of what she con 
 ceived to be fierce and uncontrollable passions. It 
 may, perhaps, be unnecessary to tell the reader 
 that Louisa Grant never reasoned so much after 
 the fashions of the world. The gentle girl, how 
 ever, had her own thoughts on the subject, and, 
 like others, she drew her own conclusions. 
 
 " I would give all my other secrets, Louisa," ex 
 claimed Miss Temple, laughing, and shaking back 
 her dark locks, with a look of childish simplicity 
 that her intelligent face seldom expressed, " to be 
 mistress of all that those rude logs have heard and 
 witnessed." 
 
 They were both looking at the secluded hut, at 
 the instant, and Miss Grant raised her mild eyes, 
 as she answered 
 
THE PIONEERS. 403 
 
 " I am sure they would tell nothing to the dis 
 advantage of Mr. Edwards." 
 
 " Perhaps not ; but they might tell who he is." 
 
 " Why, dear Miss Temple, we know all that 
 already," returned the other ; " I have heard it all 
 very rationally explained by your cousin 
 
 " The executive chief!" interrupted Elizabeth 
 " yes, yes, he can explain any thing. His inge 
 nuity will one day discover the philosopher s stone. 
 But what did he say ?" 
 
 " Say !" echoed Louisa, with a look of surprise ; 
 " why every thing that seemed to me to be satis 
 factory ; and I have believed it to be true. He 
 said that Natty Bumppo had lived most of his life 
 in the woods, and among the Indians, by which 
 means he had formed an acquaintance with old 
 John, the Delaware chief." 
 
 " Indeed ! that was quite a matter of fact tale 
 for cousin Dickon. What came next ?" 
 
 " I believe he accounted for their close intimacy, 
 by some story about the Leather-stocking saving 
 the life of John in a battle." 
 
 " Nothing more likely," said Elizabeth, a little 
 impatiently ; " but what is all this to the pur 
 pose ?" 
 
 " Nay, Elizabeth, you must bear with my igno 
 rance, and I will repeat all that I remember to have 
 overheard ; for the dialogue was between my fa 
 ther and the Sheriff, so lately as the last time they 
 met. He then added, that the kings of England 
 used to keep gentlemen as agents among the dif 
 ferent tribes of Indians, and sometimes officers in 
 the army, who frequently passed half their lives on 
 the edge of the wilderness." 
 
 " Told with a wonderful historical accuracy ! 
 And did he end there ?" 
 
 " Oh ! no then he said that these agents sel- 
 
404 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 dom married ; and and they must have been 
 wicked men, Elizabeth ! but then he said that 
 that" 
 
 " Never mind," said Miss Temple, blushing and 
 smiling, though so slightly that both were unheed 
 ed by her companion " skip all that." 
 
 " Well, then he said that they often took great 
 pride in the education of their children, whom they 
 frequently sent to England, and even to the col 
 leges ; and this is the way that he accounts for the 
 liberal manner in which Mr. Edwards has been 
 taught ; for he acknowledges that he knows almost 
 as much as himself, or your father or even mine." 
 
 " Quite a climax in learning !" cried the heir 
 ess " commencing with the last, I suppose. And 
 so he made Mohegan the grand uncle or grandfa 
 ther of Oliver Edwards." 
 
 " You have heard him yourself, then ?" said 
 Louisa. 
 
 " Often ; but not on this subject. Mr. Richard 
 Jones, you know, dear, has a theory for every 
 thing ; but has he one which will explain the rea 
 son why that hut is the only habitation within fifty 
 miles of us, whose door is not open to every per 
 son that may choose to lift its latch ?" 
 
 " I have never heard him say any thing on this 
 subject," returned the clergyman s daughter ; " but 
 I suppose that, as they are poor, they very natu 
 rally are anxious to keep the little that they ho 
 nestly own. It is sometimes dangerous to be rich, 
 Miss Temple ; but you cannot know how hard it 
 is to be very, very poor." 
 
 " Nor you neither, I trust, Louisa ; at least I 
 should hope, that in this land of abundance, no mi 
 nister of the church could be left to absolute suf 
 fering." 
 
 " There cannot be actual misery," returned the 
 
THE PIONEERS. 405 
 
 other, in a low and humble tone, " where there is 
 a dependence on our Maker ; but there may be 
 such suffering as will cause the heart to ache." 
 
 " But not you not you," said the impetuous 
 Elizabeth " not you, dear girl ; you have never 
 known the misery that is connected with poverty." 
 
 " Ah ! Miss Temple, you little understand the 
 troubles of this life, I believe. My father has 
 spent many years as a missionary, in the new 
 countries, where his people were poor, and fre 
 quently we have been without bread ; unable to 
 buy, and ashamed to beg, because we would not 
 disgrace his sacred calling. But how often have I 
 seen him leave his home, where the sick and the 
 hungry felt, when he left them, that they had lost 
 their only earthly friends, to ride on a duty which 
 could not be neglected for domestic evils. Oh 
 how hard it must be, to preach consolation to 
 others, when your own heart is bursting with an 
 guish !" 
 
 " But it is all over now !" exclaimed Elizabeth, 
 " your father s income must now be equal to his 
 wants it must be it shall be " 
 
 " It is," replied Louisa, dropping her head on 
 her bosom to conceal the tears which flowed in 
 spite of her gentle Christianity, " for there are none 
 left to be supplied but me." 
 
 The turn the conversation had taken drove from 
 the minds of the young maidens all other thoughts 
 but those of holy charity, and Elizabeth folded her 
 friend in her arms, who gave vent to her momenta 
 ry grief in audible sobs. When this burst of emo 
 tion had subsided, Louisa raised her mild counte 
 nance, and they continued their walk in silence. 
 
 By this time they had gained the summit of the 
 mountain, where they left the highway, and pur 
 sued their course, under the shade of the stately 
 
406 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 trees that crowned the eminence. The day wag 
 necoming warm, and the girls plunged more deeply 
 into the forest, as they found its invigorating cool 
 ness agreeably contrasted to the excessive heat 
 they had experienced in their ascent. The con 
 versation, as if by mutual consent, was entirely 
 changed to the little incidents and scenes of their 
 walk, and every tall pine, and every shrub or flow 
 er, called forth some simple expression of admi 
 ration. 
 
 In this manner they proceeded along the margin 
 of the precipice, catching occasional glimpses of the 
 placid Otsego, or pausing to listen to the rattling 
 of wheels and the sounds of hammers, that rose 
 from the valley, to mingle the signs of men with 
 the scenes of nature, when Elizabeth suddenly 
 started, and exclaimed 
 
 " Listen ! there are the cries of a child on this 
 mountain ! is there a clearing near us ? or can 
 some little one have strayed from its parents ?" 
 
 " Such things frequently happen," returned 
 Louisa. " Let us follow the sounds ; it may be a 
 wanderer starving on the hill." 
 
 Urged by this consideration, the females pursued 
 the low, mournful sounds, that proceeded from the 
 forest, with quick and impatient steps. More than 
 onCe, the ardent Elizabeth was on the point of an 
 nouncing that she saw the sufferer, when Louisa 
 caught her by the arm,, and pointing behind them, 
 cried 
 
 " Look at the dog !" 
 
 Brave had been their companion, from the time 
 the voice of his young mistress lured him from his 
 kennel, to the present moment. His advanced age 
 had long before deprived him of his activity ; and 
 when his companions stopped to view the scenery, 
 or to add to their bouquets, the mastiff would lay 
 
THE PIONEERS. 407 
 
 nis huge frame on the ground, and await their move 
 ments, with his eyes closed, and a listlessness in 
 his air that ill accorded with the character of a pro 
 tector. But when, aroused by this cry from Lou 
 isa, Miss Temple turned, she saw the dog with his 
 eyes keenly set on some distant object, his head 
 bent near the ground, and his hair actually rising 
 on his body, either through fright or anger. It was 
 most probably the latter, for he was growling in a 
 low key, and occasionally showing his teeth, in a 
 manner that would have terrified his mistress, had 
 she not so well known his good qualities. 
 
 " Brave !" she said, " be quiet, Brave ! what do 
 you see, fellow ?" 
 
 At the sounds of her voice, the rage of the mas 
 tiff, instead of being at all diminished, was very 
 sensibly increased. He stalked in front of the la 
 dies, and seated himself at the feet of his mistress, 
 growling louder than before, and occasionally giv 
 ing vent to his ire by a short, surly barking. 
 
 " What does he see ?" said Elizabeth, " there 
 must be some animal in sight." 
 
 Hearing no answer from her companion, Miss 
 Temple turned her head, and beheld Louisa, stand 
 ing with her face whitened to the colour of death, 
 and her finger pointing upward, with a sort of flick 
 ering, convulsed motion. The quick eye of Eliza 
 beth glanced in the direction indicated by her 
 friend, where she saw the fierce front and glaring 
 eyes of a female panther, fixed on them in horrid 
 malignity, and threatening instant destruction. 
 
 " Let us fly !" exclaimed Elizabeth, grasping the 
 arm of Louisa, whose form yielded like melting 
 snow, and sunk lifeless to the earth. 
 
 There was not a single feeling in the tempera 
 ment of Elizabeth Temple, that could prompt her 
 to desert a companion in such an extremity ; and 
 
408 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 she fell on her knees, by the side of the inanimate 
 Louisa, tearing from the person of her friend, with 
 an instinctive readiness, such parts of her dress as 
 mi^ht obstruct her respiration, and encouraging 
 their only safeguard, the dog, at the same time, by 
 the sounds of her voice. 
 
 " Courage, Brave !" she cried, her own tones 
 beginning to tremble, " courage, courage, good 
 Brave." 
 
 A quarter-grown cub, that had hitherto been un 
 seen, now appeared, dropping from the branches of 
 a sapling that grew under the shade of the beech 
 which held its dam. This ignorant, but vicious 
 creature, approached the dog, imitating the actions 
 and sounds of its parent, but exhibiting a strange 
 mixture of the playfulness of a kitten with the fe 
 rocity of its race. Standing on its hind legs, it 
 would rend the bark of a tree with its fore paws, 
 and play all the antics of a cat, for a moment ; and 
 then, by lashing itself with its tail, growling, and 
 scratching the earth, it would attempt the mani 
 festations of anger that rendered its parent so ter 
 rific. 
 
 All this time Brave stood firm and undaunted, his 
 short tail erect, his body drawn backward on its 
 haunches, and his eyes following the movements of 
 both dam and cub. At every gambol played by the 
 latter, it approached nigher to the dog, the growl 
 ing of the three becoming more horrid at each mo 
 ment, until the younger beast overleaping its in 
 tended bound, fell directly before the mastiff. 
 There was a moment of fearful cries and struggles, 
 but they ended almost as soon as commenced, by 
 the cub appearing in the air, hurled from the jaws 
 of Brave, with a violence that sent it against a 
 tree so forcibly as to render it completely sense 
 less. 
 
THE F ONEKRS. 409 
 
 Elizabeth witnessed the short struggle, and her 
 olood was warming with the triumph of the dog, 
 when she saw the form of the old panther in the 
 air, springing twenty feet from the branch of the 
 beech to the back of the mastiff. No words of ours 
 can describe the fury of the conflict that followed. 
 tt was a confused struggle on the dried leaves, ac 
 companied by loud and terrific cries. Miss Tem 
 ple continued on her knees, bending over the form 
 of Louisa, her eyes fixed on the animals, with an 
 interest so horrid, and yet so intense, that she al 
 most forgot her own stake in the result. So rapid 
 and vigorous were the bounds of the inhabitant of 
 the forest, that its active frame seemed constantly 
 in the air, while the dog nobly faced his foe at each 
 successive leap. When the panther lighted on the 
 shoulders of the mastiff, which was its constant aim, 
 old Brave, though torn with her talons, and stained 
 with his own blood, that already flowed from a 
 dozen wounds, would shake off his furious foe, like 
 a feather, and rearing on his hind legs, rush to the 
 fray again, with his jaws distended, and a dauntless 
 eye. But age, and his pampered life, greatly dis 
 qualified the noble mastiff for such a struggle. In 
 every thing but courage, he was only the vestige 
 of what he had once been. A higher bound than 
 ever, raised the wary and furious beast far beyond 
 the reach of the dog, who was making a desperate 
 but fruitless dash at her, from which she alighted in 
 a favourable position, on the back of her aged foe. 
 For a single moment only, could the panther remain 
 there, the great strength of the dog returning with 
 a convulsive effort. But Elizabeth saw, as Brave 
 fastened his teeth in the side of his enemy, that the 
 collar of brass around his neck, which had been 
 glittering throughout the fray, was of the colour of 
 blood, and directly, that his frame was sinking to 
 35 
 
410 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 the earth, where it soon lay prostrate and helpless. 
 Several mighty efforts of the wild-cat to extricate 
 herself from the jaws of the dog, followed, but they 
 were fruitless, until the mastiff turned on his back, 
 his lips collapsed, and his teeth loosened, when the 
 short convulsions and stillness that succeeded, an 
 nounced the death of poor Brave. 
 
 Elizabeth now lay wholly at the mercy of the 
 beast. There is said to be something in the front 
 of the image of the Maker, that daunts the hearts 
 of the inferior beings of his creation ; and it would 
 seem that some such power, in the present instance, 
 suspended the threatened blow. The eyes of the 
 monster and the kneeling maiden met, for an in 
 stant, when the former stooped to examine her fall 
 en foe ; next to scent her luckless cub. From the 
 latter examination, it turned, however, with its 
 eyes apparently emitting flashes of fire, its tail 
 lashing its sides furiously, and its claws projecting 
 for inches from her broad feet. 
 
 Miss Temple did not, or could not move. Her 
 hands were clasped in the attitude of prayer, but 
 her eyes were still drawn to her terrible enemy 
 her cheeks were blanched to the whiteness of mar 
 ble, and her lips were slightly separated with hor 
 ror. The moment seemed now to have arrived for 
 the fatal termination, and the beautiful figure of 
 Elizabeth was bowing meekly to the stroke, when 
 a rustling of leaves from behind seemed rather to 
 mock the organs, than to meet her ears. 
 
 " Hist ! hist !" said a low voice " steep lower, 
 al ; your bonnet hides the creater s head." 
 
 It was rather the yielding of nature than a com 
 pliance with this unexpected order, that caused the 
 head of our heroine to sink on her bosom ; when 
 she heard the report of the rifle, the whizzing of the 
 bullet, and the enraged cries of the beast, who was 
 
THE PIONEERS. 411 
 
 rolling over on the earth, biting its own flesh, and 
 tearing the twigs and branches within its reach. 
 At the next instant the form of the Leather-stock 
 ing rushed by her, and he called aloud 
 
 " Come in, Hector, come in, you old fool ; tie 
 a hard lived animal, and may jump ag in." 
 
 Natty maintained his position in front of the 
 maidens, most fearlessly, notwithstanding the vio 
 lent bounds and threatening aspect of the wounded 
 panther, which gave several indications of return 
 ing strength and ferocity, until his rifle was again 
 loaded, when he stepped up to the enraged animal, 
 and placing the muzzle close to its head, every 
 spark of life was extinguished by the discharge. 
 
 The death of her terrible enemy appeared to 
 Elizabeth like a resurrection from her own grave. 
 There was an elasticity in the mind of our heroine, 
 that rose to meet the pressure of instant danger, 
 and the more direct to the senses her apprehen 
 sions came, the more her nature had struggled to 
 overcome them. But still she was woman. Had 
 she been left to herself, in her late extremity, she 
 would probably have used her faculties to the ut 
 most, and with discretion, in protecting her per 
 son, but encumbered with her inanimate friend, 
 retreat was a thing not to be attempted. Notwith 
 standing the fearful aspect of her foe, the eye of 
 Elizabeth had never shrunk from its gaze, and 
 long after the event, her thoughts would recur to 
 her passing sensations, and the sweetness of her 
 midnight sleep would be disturbed, as her active 
 fancy conjured in dreams, the most trifling move 
 ments of savage fury, that the beast had exhibited 
 in its moment of power. 
 
 We shall leave the reader to imagine the resto- 
 ration of Louisa s senses, and the expressions of 
 gratitude which fell from the young women. The 
 
412 THE PIONEEHS. 
 
 former was effected by a little water, that was 
 brought from one of the thousand springs of those 
 mountains, in the cap of the Leather-stocking ; and 
 the latter were uttered with all the warmth that 
 might be expected from the character of Elizabeth. 
 Natty received her vehement protestations of gra 
 titude, with a simple expression of good-will, and 
 with indulgence for her present excitement, but 
 with a carelessness that showed how little he 
 thought of the service he had rendered. 
 
 " Well, well," he said, " be it so, gal ; let it be 
 so, if you wish it we ll talk the thing over an 
 other time ; but I m sore afeard you ll find Mr. Oli 
 ver a better companion than an old hunter, like 
 me. Come, come let us get into the road, for 
 you ve had tirror enough to make you wish your 
 self in your father s house ag in." 
 
 This was uttered as they were proceeding, at a 
 pace that was adapted to the weakness of Louisa, 
 towards the highway : on reaching which the la 
 dies separated from their guide, declaring them 
 selves equal to the remainder of their walk without 
 his assistance, and feeling encouraged by the sight 
 of the village, which lay beneath their feet, like a 
 picture, with its limpid lake in front, the winding 
 stream along its margin, and its hundred chimneys 
 of whitened bricks. 
 
 The reader need not be told the nature of the 
 emotions which two youthful, ingenuous, and well- 
 educated girls would experience at their escape 
 from a death so horrid as the one which had im 
 pended over them, while they pursued their way 
 in silence along the track on the side of the moun 
 tain ; nor how deep were their mental thanks to 
 that power which had given them their existence, 
 and which had not deserted them in their extremi- 
 ty ; neither how often they pressed each other s 
 
THE PIONEERS. 413 
 
 arms, as the assurance of their present safety came, 
 like a healing balm, athwart their troubled spirits, 
 when their thoughts were recurring to the recent 
 moments of horror. 
 
 Leather-stocking remained on the hill, gazing 
 after their retiring figures, until they were hid by 
 a bend in the road, when he whistled in his dogs, 
 and shouldering his rifle, he returned into the 
 forest. 
 
 " Well, it was a skeary thing to the young crea- 
 ters," said Natty, while he retrod the path towards 
 the slain. " It might frighten an older woman, to 
 see a she painter so near her, with a dead cub by 
 its side. I wonder if I had aimed at the varmint s 
 eye, if I shouldn t have touched the life sooner than 
 in the forehead ? but they are hard-lived animals, 
 and it was a good shot, consid ring that I could see 
 nothing but the head and peak of its tail. Hah ! 
 who goes there ?" 
 
 " How goes it, Natty?" said Mr. Doolittle, step 
 ping out of the bushes, with a motion that was a 
 good deal accelerated by the sight of the rifle, that 
 was already lowered in his direction. " What 
 shooting this warm day ! mind, old man, the law 
 don t get hold on you." 
 
 u The law, Squire ! I have shook hands with 
 the law these forty year," returned Natty ; " for 
 what has a man who lives in the wilderness to do 
 with the ways of the law ?" 
 
 " Not much, maybe," said Hiram ; " but you 
 sometimes trade in venison. I s pose you know, 
 Leather-stocking, that there is an act passed to lay 
 a fine of five pounds currency, or twelve dollars 
 and fifty cents, by decimals, on every man who 
 kills a leer betwixt January and August. The 
 Judge had a great hand in getting the law through." 
 
 " I can believe it," returned the old hunter ; " I 
 35* 
 
4l-l THE PIONEERS. 
 
 can believe that or any thing, of a man who carries 
 on as he does in the country." 
 
 " Yes, the law is quite positive, and the Judge is 
 bent on putting it in force five pounds penalty. 
 I thought I heerd your hounds out on the scent of 
 so thing this morning : I didn t know but they 
 might get you in difficulty." 
 
 " They know their manners too well," said 
 Natty, carelessly. " And how much goes to the 
 state s evidence, Squire ?" 
 
 " How much !" repeated Hiram, quailing under 
 the honest but sharp look of the hunter " the in 
 former gets half, I I b lieve ; yes, I guess it s 
 half. But there s blood on your sleeve, man you 
 haven t been shooting any thing this morning ?" 
 
 " I have, though," said the hunter, nodding his 
 head significantly to the other, " and a good shot I 
 made of it." 
 
 " H-e-m !" ejaculated the magistrate; "and 
 where is the game ? I s pose it s of a good nater, 
 for your dogs won t hunt at any thing that isn t 
 choish." 
 
 " They ll hunt any thing I tell them to, Squire," 
 cried Natty, favouring the other with his laugh. 
 "They ll hunt you, if I say so. He-e-e-re, 
 he-e-e-re, Hector he-e-e-re, slut come this 
 a-way, pups come this a-way come hither." 
 
 " Oh ! I ve always heern a good character of the 
 dogs," returned Mr. Doolittle, quickening his pace 
 by raising each leg in rapid succession, as the 
 hounds scented around his person. " And where 
 is the game, Leather-stocking ?" 
 
 During this dialogue, the speakers had been 
 walking at a very fast gait, and Natty swung the 
 end of his rifle round, pointing through the bushes, 
 and replied 
 
 " There lays one. How do you like such meat ?" 
 
THE PIONEERS. 415 
 
 ** This !" exclaimed Hiram, " why this is Judge 
 Temple s dog Brave. Take kear, Leather-stock 
 ing, and don t make an inimy of the Judge. I hope 
 you haven t banned the animal ?" 
 
 " Look for yourself, Mr. Doolittle," said Natty, 
 drawing his knife from his girdle, and wiping it, in 
 a knowing manner, once or twice across his gar 
 ment of buckskin ; " does his throat look as if I 
 had cut it with this knife ?" 
 
 " It is dreadfully tore ! it s an awful wownd 
 no knife never did this deed. Who could have 
 done it ?" 
 
 " That painter behind you, Squire look, there s 
 two of them." 
 
 " Painters !" echoed Hiram, whirling on his 
 heel, with an agility that would have done credit 
 to a dancing master ; " where s a painter ?" 
 
 " Be easy, man," said Natty ; " there s two of 
 the vinimous things; but the dog finished one, 
 and I have fastened the other s jaws for her ; so 
 you needn t look so skeared, Squire ; they won t 
 hurt you." 
 
 " And where s the deer?" cried Hiram, staring 
 about him with a bewildered air. 
 
 " Anan ! deer !" repeated Natty. 
 
 " Sartain, an t there ven son here, or didn t you 
 kill a buck ?" 
 
 " What! when the law forbids the thing, 
 Squire !" said the old hunter. " I hope there s no 
 law ag in killing the painters." 
 
 " No ; there s a bounty on the scalps but will 
 your dogs hunt painters, Natty ?" 
 
 " Any thing ; didn t I tell you they d hunt a 
 man ? He-e-re, he-e-re, pups" 
 
 " Oh ! yes, yes, I remember. Well, they are 
 strange dogs, I must say I am quite in a wonder 
 ment." 
 
416 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 Natty had seated himself on the ground, and 
 having laid the grim head of his late ferocious ene 
 my in his lap, was drawing his knife with a prac 
 tised hand around the ears, which he tore from 
 the head of the beast in such a manner as to pre 
 serve their connexion, when he answered 
 
 " What at, Squire ? did you never see a pain 
 ter s scalp afore ? Come, you be a magistrate, I 
 wish you d make me out an order for the bounty." 
 
 " The bounty !" repeated Hiram, holding the 
 ears on the end of his finger, for a moment, as if 
 uncertain how to proceed. "Well, let us go 
 down to your hut, where you can take the oath, 
 and I will write out the order. I s pose you 
 have a bible ? all the law wants is the four Evan 
 gelists and the Lord s prayer." 
 
 " I rather guess not," said Natty, a little coldly 
 " not such a bible as the law needs." 
 
 " Oh ! there s but one sort of bible, at least that s 
 good in law," returned the magistrate ; " and yourn 
 will do as well as another s. Come, the carcasses 
 are worth nothing, man ; let us go down and take 
 the oath." 
 
 " Softly, softly, Squire," said the hunter, lifting 
 his trophies very deliberately from the ground, and 
 shouldering his rifle ; " why do you want an oath 
 at all, for a thing that your own eyes has seen ? 
 won t you believe" yourself, that another man must 
 swear to a fact that you know to be true ? You 
 seen me scalp the creaters, and if I must swear to 
 it, it shall be before Judge Temple, who needs an 
 oath." 
 
 " But we have no pen or paper here, Leather- 
 stocking ; we must go to the hut for them, or how 
 can I write the order ?" 
 
 Natty turned his simple features on the cunning 
 magistrate with another of his laughs, as he said 
 
THE PIONEERS. 417 
 
 * e And what should I be doing with such scholars 
 tools ? I want no pens or paper, not knowing the 
 use of ither ; and so I keep none. No, no, I ll 
 bring the scalps into the village, Squire, and you 
 can make out the order on one of your law-books, 
 and it will be all the better for it. The deuse take 
 this leather on the neck of the dog, it will strangle 
 the old fool. Can you lend me a knife, Squire ?" 
 
 Hiram, who seemed particularly anxious to be 
 on good terms with his companion, unhesitatingly 
 complied. Natty cut the thong from the neck of 
 the hound, and, as he returned the knife to its 
 owner, carelessly remarked 
 
 a Tis a good bit of steel, and has cut such lea 
 ther as this very same before now, I dare say." 
 
 " Do you mean to charge me with letting your 
 hounds loose ?" exclaimed Hiram, with a conscious 
 ness that disarmed his caution. 
 
 " Loose !" repeated the hunter " I let them 
 loose myself. I always let them loose before I 
 leave the hut." 
 
 The ungovernable amazement with which Mr. 
 Doolittle listened to this falsehood, would have be 
 trayed his agency in the liberation of the dogs, had 
 Natty wanted any further confirmation ; and the 
 coolness and management of the old man now dis 
 appeared in open indignation. 
 
 " Look you here, Mr. Doolittle," he said, strik 
 ing the breech of his rifle violently on the ground ; 
 " what there is in the wigwam of a poor man like 
 me, that one like you can crave, I don t know ; but 
 this I tell you to your face, that you never shall 
 put a foot under the roof of my cabin with my con 
 sent, and that if you harbour round the spot as you 
 have done lately, you may meet with treatment 
 that you won t over and above relish." 
 
418 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 " And let me tell you, Mr. Bumppo," said Hi 
 ram, retreating, however, with a quick step, " that 
 I know you ve broke the law, and that I m a ma 
 gistrate, and will make you feel it too, before you 
 are a day older." 
 
 " That for you and your law too," cried Natty, 
 snapping his fingers at the justice of the peace 
 " away with you, you varmint, before the divil 
 tempts me to give you your desarts. Take kear, 
 if I ever catch your prowling face in the woods 
 ag in, that I don t shoot it for an owl " 
 
 There is something at all times commanding in 
 honest indignation, and Hiram did not stay to pro 
 voke the wrath of the old Hunter to extremities. 
 When the intruder was out of sight, Natty pro 
 ceeded to the hut, where he found all quiet as the 
 grave. He fastened his dogs, and tapping at the 
 door, which was opened by Edwards, asked 
 
 " Is all safe, lad !" 
 
 " Every thing," returned the youth. " Some 
 one attempted the lock, but it was too strong for 
 him." 
 
 " I know the creater," said Natty, " but he ll 
 not trust himself within reach of my rifle ag in 
 
 very soon, for I ll " What more was uttered by 
 
 the Leather-stocking, in his vexation, was render 
 ed inaudible by the closing of the door of the ca 
 bin. 
 
CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 44 It li noised he hath a mas of treasure." 
 
 Timon of Athens 
 
 WHEN Marmaduke Temple and his cousin rode 
 through the gate of the former, the heart of the fa 
 ther had been too recently touched with the best 
 feeling of our nature, to leave inclination for imme 
 diate discourse. There was an importance in the 
 air of Richard, which would not have admitted of 
 the ordinary informal conversation of the Sheriff, 
 without violating all the rules of consistency ; and 
 the equestrians pursued their way with great dili 
 gence, for more than a mile, in profound silence. 
 At length the soft expression of parental care, 
 blended with affection, was slowly chased from the 
 handsome features of the Judge, and was gradually 
 supplanted by the cast of humour and benevolence 
 that w T as usually seated on his brow. 
 
 " Well, Dickon," he said, " since I have yielded 
 myself, so far, implicitly to your guidance, I think 
 the moment has arrived, when I am entitled to fur 
 ther confidence. Why and wherefore are we jour- 
 xieying together in this solemn gait ?" 
 
 The Sheriff gave a loud hem, that rung far in the 
 forest, which they had now entered, and keeping 
 his eyes fixed on objects before him, like a man 
 
420 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 who is looking deep into futurity, he replied as 
 follows : 
 
 " There has always been one point of difference 
 between us, Judge Temple, I may say, since our 
 nativity ; not that I would insinuate that you are 
 at all answerable for the acts of nature ; for a man 
 is no more to be condemned for the misfortunes of 
 his birth, than he is to be commended for the natu 
 ral advantages he may possess ; but on one point 
 we may be said to have differed from our births, 
 and they, you know, occurred within two days of 
 each other." 
 
 " I really marvel, Richard, what this one point 
 can be ; for, to my eyes, we seem to differ so ma 
 terially, and so often " 
 
 " Mere consequences, sir," interrupted the She 
 riff; " all our minor differences proceed from one 
 cause, and that is, our opinions of the universal at 
 tainments of genius." 
 
 " In what, Dickon !" exclaimed the Judge. 
 
 " I speak plain English, I believe, Judge Tem 
 ple ; at least I ought ; for my father, who taught 
 me, could speak " 
 
 " Greek and Latin," interrupted Marmaduke 
 " I well know the qualifications of your family in 
 tongues, Dickon. . But proceed to the point ; why 
 are we travelling over this mountain to-day ?" 
 
 " To do justice to any subject, sir, the narrator 
 must be suffered to proceed in his own way," con 
 tinued the Sheriff. " You are of opinion, Judge 
 Temple, that a man is to be qualified by nature and 
 education to do only one thing well, whereas I 
 know that genius will supply the place of learning, 
 and that a certain sort of man can do any thing and 
 every thing." 
 
 " Like yourself, I suppose," said Marmaduke, 
 smiling. 
 
THE PIONEERS. 421 
 
 " I scorn personalities, sir," returned the She 
 riff; " I say nothing of myself; but there are three 
 men on your patent, of the kind that I should teim 
 talented by nature for her general purposes, though 
 acting under the influence of different situations." 
 
 " We are better off, then, than I had supposed," 
 said Marmaduke. " Who are they ?" 
 
 " W~hy, sir, one is Hiram Doolittle ; he is a car 
 penter by trade, as you know, and I need only 
 point to the village to exhibit his merits. Then 
 he is a magistrate, and might shame many a man, 
 in his distribution of justice, who has had better 
 opportunities than himself." 
 
 " Well, he is one," said Marmaduke, with the 
 air of a man that was determined not to dispute the 
 point. 
 
 " Yes, sir, and Jotham Riddel is another." 
 
 " Who !" exclaimed the Judge. 
 
 " Jotham Riddel." 
 
 " What, that dissatisfied, shiftless, lazy, specu 
 lating fellow ! he who changes his county every 
 three years, his farm every six months, and his oc 
 cupation every season ! an agriculturist yesterday, 
 a shoemaker to-day, and a schoolmaster to-mor 
 row ! that epitome of all the unsteady and profit 
 less propensities of the settlers without one of their 
 good qualities to counterbalance the evil ! Nay, 
 
 Richard, this is too bad for even but who is the 
 
 third ? 
 
 " As the third is not used to hearing such com 
 ments on his character, Judge Temple, I shall not 
 name him," said the indignant Sheriff. 
 
 " The amount of all this, then, Dickon, is, that 
 the trio, of which you are one, and the principal, 
 have made some important discovery." 
 
 " I have not said that I am one, Judge Temple. 
 As I told you before, I say nothing of myself. But 
 36 
 
422 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 a discovery has been made, and you are deeply in 
 terested in it." 
 
 " Proceed I am all ears." 
 
 " No, no, duke, you are bad enough, I own, but 
 not so bad as that either ; your ears are not quite 
 full grown." 
 
 The Sheriff laughed heartily at his own wit, and 
 put himself in good humour thereby, when he 
 gratified his patient cousin with the following ex 
 planation : 
 
 " You know, duke, that there is a man living on 
 your estate that goes by the name of Natty Bump- 
 po. Here has this man lived, by what I can learn, 
 for more than forty years by himself, until lately ; 
 and now with strange companions." 
 
 " Part very true, and all very probable," said 
 the Judge. 
 
 " All true, sir ; all true. Well, within these 
 last few months have appeared as his companions; 
 an old Indian chief, the last, or one of the last of 
 his tribe that is to be found in this part of the 
 country, and a young man, who is said to be the 
 son of some Indian agent, by a squaw." 
 
 " Who says that ?" cried Marmaduke, with an 
 interest that he had not manifested before. 
 
 " Who ! why common sense common report. 
 But listen till you know all. This youth has very 
 pretty talents yes, what I call very pretty talents 
 and has been well educated, has seen very tole 
 rable company, and knows how to behave himself, 
 when he has a mind to. Now, Judge Temple, can 
 you tell me what has brought three such men as 
 Indian John, Natty Bumppo, and Oliver Edwards, 
 together ?" 
 
 Marmaduke turned his countenance, in evident 
 surprise, to his cousin, and replied quickly 
 
 Thou hast unexpectedly hit on a subject, Ri- 
 
THE PIONEERS. 423 
 
 chard, that has often occupied my mind. But 
 knowest thou any thing of this mystery, or are 
 they only the crude conjectures of " 
 
 " Crude nothing, duke, crude nothing ; but facts, 
 stubborn facts. You know there are mines in these 
 mountains ; I have often heard you say that you 
 believed in their existence" 
 
 " Reasoning from analogy, Richard, but not with 
 any certainty of the fact." 
 
 " You have heard them mentioned, and have seen 
 specimens of the ore, sir ; you will not deny that ! 
 and, reasoning from analogy, as you say, if there be 
 mines in South America, ought there not to be 
 mines in North America too ?" 
 
 " Nay, nay, I deny nothing, my cousin. I cer 
 tainly have heard many rumours of the existence 
 of mines in those hills ; and I do believe that I have 
 seen specimens of the precious metals that have 
 been found here. It would occasion me no surprise 
 to learn that tin and silver, or what I consider of 
 more consequence, good coal," 
 
 " Damn your coal, sir," cried the Sheriff; " who 
 wants to find coal in these forests ? No, no, silver, 
 duke ; silver is the one thing needful, and silver is 
 to be found. But listen : you are not to be told 
 that the natives have long known the use of gold 
 and silver ; now who so likely to be acquainted 
 where they are to be found, as the ancient inhabit 
 ants of a country ? I have the best reasons for be 
 lieving that both Mohegan and the Leather-stock 
 ing have been privy to the existence of a mine in 
 this very mountain, for many years." 
 
 The Sheriff had now touched his cousin in a sen 
 sitive spot ; and Marmaduke lent a more attentive 
 ear tc the speaker, who, after waiting a moment, 
 to see the effect of this extraordinary develope- 
 mentj proceeded 
 
424 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 " Yes, sir, I have my reasons, and at a proper 
 lime you shall know them." 
 
 " No time is so good as the present," exclaimed 
 Marmaduke. 
 
 " Well, well, be attentive," continued Richard, 
 looking cautiously about him, to make certain that 
 no eavesdropper was hid in the forest, though they 
 were in constant motion. " I have seen Mohegan 
 and the Leather-stocking, with my own eyes and 
 my eyes are as good as any body s eyes I have 
 seen them, I say, both going up the mountain and 
 coming down it, with spades and picks ; and others 
 have seen them carrying things into their hut, in a 
 secret and mysterious manner, after dark. Do you 
 know what they could be ?" 
 
 The Judge did not reply, but his brow had con 
 tracted, with a thoughtfulness that ho always wore 
 when much interested, and his eyes rested on his 
 cousin in expectation of hearing mere. Richard 
 continued 
 
 " It was ore. Now, sir, I ask if you can tell me 
 who this Mr. Oliver Edwards is, that has made a 
 part of your household since last Christmas ?" 
 
 Marmaduke again raised his eyes, but continued 
 silent, shaking his head in the negative. 
 
 " That he is a half-breed we know, for Mohegan 
 does not scruple to call him, openly, his kinsman ; 
 that he is well educated we know. But as to his 
 business here do you remember that about a 
 month before this young man made his appearance 
 among us, Natty was absent from home several 
 days ? You do ; for you inquired for him, as you 
 wanted some venison to take to your friends, when 
 you went for Bess. Well, he was not to be found. 
 Old John was left in the hut alone ; and when 
 Natty did appear, although he came on in the night, 
 he was seen drawing one of those jumpers that they 
 
THE PIONEERS. 125 
 
 carry their grain to mill in, and to take out some 
 thing, with great care, that he had covered up un 
 der his bear-skins. Now let me ask you, Judge 
 Temple, what motive could induce a man like the 
 Leather-stocking to make a sled, and toil W 7 ith a 
 load over these mountains, if he had nothing but 
 his rifle or his ammunition to carry ?" 
 
 " They frequently make these jumpers to con 
 vey their game home, and you say he had been ab 
 sent many days." 
 
 " How did he kill it ? His rifle was in the village, 
 to be mended. No, no that he was gone to some 
 unusual place is certain ; that he brought back 
 some secret utensils is also certain ; and since then 
 he has not allowed a soul to approach his hut." 
 
 " He was never fond of intruders" 
 
 " I know it," interrupted Richard ; " but did he 
 drive them from his cabin morosely ? Within a 
 fortnight of his return, this Mr. Edwards appears. 
 They spent whole days in the mountains, pretend 
 ing to be shooting, but in reality exploring ; the 
 frosts prevented their digging at that time, and he 
 availed himself of a lucky accident to get into good 
 quarters. But even now, he is quite half of his 
 time in that hut many hours in each night. They 
 are smelting, duke, they are smelting, and as they 
 grow rich, you grow poor." 
 
 " How much of this is thine own, Richard, and 
 how much comes from others ? I would sift the 
 wheat from the chaff." 
 
 ." Part is my own, for I saw the jumper, though 
 it was broken up and burnt in a day or two. I 
 have told you that I saw the old man with his 
 spades and picks. Hiram met Natty, as he was 
 crossing the mountain, the night of his arrival with 
 the sled, and very good-naturedly offered Hiram 
 is good-natured -to carry up part of his load, for 
 36* 
 
426 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 the old man had a heavy pull up the back of the 
 mountain, but he wouldn t listen to the thing, and 
 repulsed the offer in such a manner that the Squire 
 said he had half a mind to swear the peace against 
 him. Since the snow has been off, more especial 
 ly after the frosts got out of the ground, we have 
 kept a watchful eye on the gentlemen, in which we 
 have found Jotham very useful." 
 
 Marmaduke did not much like the associates of 
 Richard in this business ; still he knew them to be 
 cunning and ready in expedients ; and as there was 
 certainly something mysterious, not only in the 
 connexion between the old hunters and Edwards, 
 but in what his cousin had just related, he began 
 to revolve the subject in his own mind with more 
 care. On reflection, he remembered various cir 
 cumstances that tended to corroborate these sus 
 picions, and, as the whole business favoured one 
 of his infirmities, he yielded the more readily to 
 their impression. The mind of Judge Temple, at 
 all times comprehensive, had received, from his 
 peculiar occupations, a bias to look far into futurity, 
 in speculations on the improvements that posterity 
 were to make in his lands. To his eye, where 
 others saw nothing but a wilderness, towns, manu 
 factories, bridges, canals, mines, and all the other 
 resources of an old country, were constantly pre 
 senting themselves, though his good sense sup 
 pressed, in some degree, the exhibition of these 
 expectations. 
 
 As the Sheriff allowed his cousin full time to re 
 flect on what he had heard, the probability of some 
 pecuniary adventure being the connecting link in 
 the chain that brought Oliver Edwards into the 
 cabin of Leather- stocking, appeared to him each 
 moment to be stronger. But Marmaduke was too 
 much in the habit of examining both sides of a sub- 
 
THE PIONEERS. 427 
 
 ject, not to perceive the objections, and reasoned 
 with himself aloud : 
 
 " It cannot be so, or the youth would not be 
 driven so near the verge of poverty." 
 
 " What so likely to make a man dig for money, 
 as being poor ?" cried the Sheriff. 
 
 " Besides, there is an elevation of character about 
 Oliver, that proceeds from education, which would 
 forbid so clandestine a proceeding." 
 
 " Could an ignorant fellow smelt ?" continued 
 Richard. 
 
 " Then Bess hints that he was reduced to his 
 last shilling, when we took him into our dwell 
 ing." 
 
 " He had been buying tools. And would he 
 spend his last sixpence for a shot at a Turkey, had 
 he not known where to get more." 
 
 " Can I have possibly been so long a dupe ! His 
 manner has been rude to me at times ; but I attri 
 buted it to his conceiving himself injured, and to 
 his mistaking the forms of the world." 
 
 " Haven t you been a dupe all your life, duke ? 
 and an t what you call ignorance of forms deep 
 cunning, to conceal his real character ?" 
 
 " If he were bent on deception, he would have 
 concealed his knowledge, and passed with us for 
 an inferior man." 
 
 " He cannot. I could no more pass for a fool, 
 myself, than I could fly. Knowledge is not to be 
 concealed, like a candle under a bushel." 
 
 " Richard," said the Judge, turning to his cousin, 
 " there are many reasons against the truth of thy 
 conjectures ; but thou hast awakened suspicions 
 which must be satisfied. But why are we travel 
 ling here ?" 
 
 " Jotham, who has been much in the mountain 
 Latterly, being kept there by me and Hiram, has 
 
428 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 made a discovery, which he will not explain, he 
 says, for he is bound by an oath ; but the amount 
 is, that he knows where the ore lies, and he has 
 this day begun to dig. I would not consent to the 
 thing, duke, without your knowledge, for the land 
 is yours ; and now you know the reason of our 
 ride. Don t you call this a countermine for their 
 mine, ha !" 
 
 " And where is the desirable spot ?" asked the 
 Judge, with an air half comical, half serious. 
 
 " Close by ; and when we have visited that, I 
 will show you one of the places that we have found 
 within a week, where our gentlemen hunters have 
 been amusing themselves for six months past." 
 
 The gentlemen continued to discuss the matter, 
 while their horses picked their way under the 
 branches of trees, and over the uneven ground of 
 the mountain. They soon arrived at the end of 
 their journey, where, in truth, they found Jotham 
 already buried to his neck in a hole that he had 
 been digging. 
 
 Marmaduke questioned the miner very closely, 
 as to his reasons for believing in the existence of 
 the precious metals near that particular spot ; but 
 the fellow maintained an obstinate mystery in his 
 answers. He asserted that he had the best of 
 reasons for what he did, and inquired of the Judge 
 what portion of the profits would fall to his own 
 share, in the event of success, with an earnestness 
 that proved his faith. After spending an hour near 
 the place, examining the stones, and searching for 
 the usual indications of the proximity of ore, the 
 Judge remounted, and suffered his cousin to lead 
 the way to the place where the mysterious trio 
 had been making their excavation. 
 
 The spot chosen by Jotham was on the back of 
 the mountain that overhung the hut of Leather- 
 
THE PIONEERS. 429 
 
 stocking, and the place selected by Natty and his 
 companions was on the other side of the same hill, 
 but above the road, and, of course, in an opposite 
 direction to the route taken by the ladies in their 
 walk. 
 
 "We shall be safe in approaching the place 
 now," said Richard, while they dismounted and 
 fastened their horses ; " for I took a look with the 
 glass, and saw John and Leather-stocking in their 
 canoe fishing, before we left home, and Oliver is 
 in the same pursuit ; but these may be nothing but 
 shams, to blind our eyes, so we will be expedi 
 tious, for it would not be pleasant to be caught 
 here by theml" 
 
 " Not on my own land !" said Marmaduke stern 
 ly. " If it be as you suspect, I will know their 
 reasons for making this excavation." 
 
 " Mum," said Richard, laying his finger on his 
 lip, and leading the way down a very difficult de 
 scent to a sort of natural cavern, which was form 
 ed in the face of the rock, and not unlike a fire 
 place in shape. In front of this place lay a pile of 
 earth, which had evidently been taken from the 
 recess, and part of which was yet fresh. An exa 
 mination of the exterior of the cavern left the 
 Judge in doubt whether it was one of nature s fro 
 lics that had thrown it into that shape, or whether 
 it had been wrought by the hands of man, at some 
 earlier period. But there could be no doubt that 
 the whole of the interior was of recent formation, 
 and the marks of the pick were still visible, where 
 the soft, lead-coloured rock had opposed itself to 
 the progress of the miners. The whole formed an 
 excavation of about twenty feet in width, and 
 nearly twice that distance in depth. The height 
 was much greater than was required for the ordi- 
 
430 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 nary purposes of experiment; but this was evi 
 dently the effect of chance, as the roof of the ca 
 vern was a natural stratum of rock, that projected 
 many feet beyond the base of the pile. Immedi 
 ately in front of the recess, or cave, was a little ter 
 race, partly formed by nature, and partly by the 
 earth that had been carelessly thrown aside by the 
 labourers. The mountain fell off precipitately in 
 front of the terrace, and the approach by its sides 
 under the ridge of the rocks, was difficult and a 
 little dangerous. The whole was wild, rude, and 
 apparently incomplete : for, while looking among 
 the bushes, the Sheriff found the very implements 
 that had been used in the work. 
 
 When the Sheriff thought that his cousin had 
 examined the spot sufficiently, he cried 
 
 " Well, Judge Temple, are you satisfied ?" 
 
 " Perfectly that there is something mysterious, 
 and to me perplexing in this business. It is a se 
 cret spot, and cunningly devised, Richard ; yet I 
 see no symptoms of ore." 
 
 " Do you expect, sir, to find gold and silver lying 
 like pebbles on the surface of the earth ? dollars 
 and dimes ready coined to your hands ! No, no 
 the treasure must be sought after to be won. But 
 let them mine ; I shall countermine." 
 
 The Judge took an accurate survey of the place, 
 and noted in his memorandum-book such marks as 
 were necessary to find it again, in the event of 
 Richard s absence ; when the cousins returned to 
 their horses. 
 
 On reaching the highway they separated, the 
 Sheriff to summon twenty-four " good men and 
 true," to attend as the inquest of the county, on 
 the succeeding Monday, when Marmaduke held his 
 stated court of " common pleas and general sessions 
 
THE PIONEERS. 431 
 
 of the peace," and the Judge to return, musing 
 deeply on what he had seen and heard in the 
 course of the morning. 
 
 When the horse of the latter reached the spot 
 where the highway fell towards the valley, the 
 eye of Marmaduke rested, it is true, on the same 
 scene that had, ten minutes before, been so sooth 
 ing to the feelings of his daughter and her friend, as 
 they emerged from the forest ; but it rested in va 
 cancy. He threw the reins to his sure-footed 
 beast, and suffered the animal to travel at its own 
 gait, while he soliloquized as follows : 
 
 " There may be more in this than I at first sup 
 posed. I have suffered my feeling to blind my 
 reason, in admitting an unknown youth in this 
 manner to my dwelling ; yet this is not the land 
 of suspicion. I will have the Leather-stocking be 
 fore me, and, by a few direct questions, extract 
 the truth from the simple old man." 
 
 At that instant the Judge caught a glimpse of 
 the figures of Elizabeth and Louisa, who were 
 slowly descending the mountain, but a short dis 
 tance before him. He put spurs to his horse, and 
 riding up to them, dismounted, and drove his steed 
 along the narrow path. While the agitated parent 
 was listening to the vivid description that his 
 daughter gave of her recent danger, and her unex 
 pected escape, all thoughts of mines, vested rights, 
 and examinations, were absorbed in his emotions ; 
 and when the image of Natty again crossed his re 
 collection, it was not as a lawless and depredating 
 squatter, but as the preserver of his child. 
 
CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 1 The court awards it, and the law doth give it." 
 
 Merchant of Feniee. 
 
 REMARKABLE PETTIBONE, who had forgotten 
 the wound received by her pride, in the contem 
 plation of the ease and comforts of her situation, 
 and who still retained her station in the family of 
 Judge Temple, was despatched to the humble 
 dwelling which Richard styled u the Rectory," in 
 attendance on Louisa, who was soon consigned to 
 the arms of her father. 
 
 In the mean time, Marmaduke and his daughter 
 were closeted for more than an hour, nor shall we 
 invade the sanctuary of parental love, by relating 
 the conversation for that period. At its expiration, 
 when the curtain rises on the reader, the Judge is 
 seen walking up and down the apartment, with a 
 tender melancholy in his air, softening the manly 
 expression of his features, and his child reclining 
 on a settee, with a flushed cheek, and her dark 
 eyes seeming to float in crystals. 
 
 " It was a timely rescue ! it was, indeed, a time 
 ly rescue, my child !" cried the Judge. " Then 
 thou didst not desert thy friend, my noble Bess ?" 
 
 " I believe I may as well take the credit of forti 
 tude," said Elizabeth, " though I much doubt if 
 
THE PIONEERS. 433 
 
 flight would have availed me any thing, had I even 
 courage to execute such an intention. But I 
 thought not of the expedient." 
 
 " Of what didst thou think, love ? where did thy 
 thoughts dwell most, at that fearful moment ?" 
 
 " The beast ! the beast !" cried Elizabeth, veil 
 ing her face with her fair hand ; " Oh ! I saw no 
 thing, I thought of nothing, but the beast. I tried 
 to think of better things, but the horror was too 
 glaring, the danger too much before my eyes." 
 
 " Well, well, thou art safe, and we will con 
 verse no more on the unpleasant subject. I did 
 not think such an animal yet remained in our fo 
 rests ; but they will stray far from their haunts 
 when pressed by hunger, and" 
 
 \ loud knocking at the door of the apartment 
 interrupted what he was about to utter, and he bid 
 the applicant enter. The door was opened by 
 Benjamin, who came in with a discontented air, as 
 if he felt that he had a communication to make that 
 would be out of season. 
 
 " Here is Squire Doolittle below, sir," com 
 menced the Major-domo. " He has been standing 
 off and on in the door-yard, maybe for the matter of 
 a glass ; and he has sum mat on his mind that he 
 wants to heave up, d ye see j but I tells him, says 
 I, man, would you be coming aboard with your 
 complaints, said I, when the Judge has gotten his 
 own child, as it were, out of the jaws of a lion ? 
 But damn the bit of manners has the fellow any 
 more than if he was one of them Guineas, down in 
 the kitchen there ; and so as he was shearing along 
 side, every stretch he made towards the house, I 
 could do no better than to let your honour know 
 that the chap was in the offing." 
 
 " He must have business of importance," said 
 37 
 
434 
 
 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 Marmaduke ; " something in relation to his office, 
 most probably, as the court sits so shortly." 
 
 " Ay, ay, you have it, sir," cried Benjamin, 
 " it s sum mat about a complaint that he has to 
 make of the old Leather-stocking, who, to my judg 
 ment, is the better man of the two. It s a very 
 good sort of a man is this Master Bumppo, and he 
 has a way with a spear, all the same as if he was 
 brought up at the bow oar of the captain s barge, 
 or was born with a boat-hook in his hand." 
 
 " Against the Leather-stocking !" cried Eliza 
 beth, rising from her reclining posture. 
 
 " Rest easy, my child," said the Judge, smiling, 
 " it is some trifle, I pledge you ; I believe I am al 
 ready acquainted with its import. Trust me, Bess, 
 your champion shall be safe in my care. Show 
 Mr. Doolittle in, Benjamin." 
 
 Miss Temple appeared satisfied with this assu 
 rance, but fastened her dark eyes on the person of 
 the architect, who profited by the permission, and 
 instantly made his appearance. 
 
 All the impatience of Hiram seemed to vanish 
 the instant he entered the apartment. After sa 
 luting the Judge and his daughter, he took the 
 chair to which Marmaduke pointed, and sat for a 
 minute, composing his straight black hair, with a 
 gravity in his demeanour that was intended to do 
 honour to his official station. At length he said 
 
 " It s likely, from what I hear, that Miss Tem 
 ple had a pretty narrow chance with the painters, 
 on the mountain." 
 
 Marmaduke made a gentle inclination of his head, 
 by way of assent, but continued silent. 
 
 " I s pose the law gives a bounty on the scalps, 
 continued Hiram, " in which case the Leather 
 stocking will make a good job on t." 
 
THE PIONEERS. 435 
 
 " It shall be my care, sir, to see that he is re 
 warded," returned the Judge.. 
 
 " Yes, yes, I rather guess that nobody here 
 abouts doubts the Judge s generosity. Doos he 
 know whether the Sheriff has fairly made up his 
 mind to have a reading-desk or a deacon s pew un 
 der the pulpit ?" 
 
 " I have not heard my cousin speak on that sub 
 ject lately," replied Marmaduke. 
 
 " I think it s likely that we will have a pretty 
 dull court on t, from what I can gather. I hear 
 that Jotham Riddel and the man who bought his 
 betterments, have agreen to leave their difference 
 to men, and I don t think there ll be more than two 
 civil cases in the calendar." 
 
 " I am glad of it," said the Judge ; " nothing gives 
 me more pain than to see my settlers wasting their 
 time and substance in the unprofitable struggles of 
 the law. I hope it may prove true, sir." 
 
 " I rather guess twill be left out to men," added 
 Hiram, with an air equally balanced between doubt 
 and assurance, but which Judge Temple under 
 stood to mean certainty ; " I some think that I am 
 appointed a referee in the case myself ; Jotham as 
 much as told me that he should take me. The de 
 fendant, I guess, means to take Captain Hollister, 
 and we two have partly agreen on Squire Jones 
 for the third man." 
 
 " Are there any criminals to be tried ?" asked 
 Marmaduke. 
 
 " There s the counterfeiters," returned the ma 
 gistrate ; " as they were caught in the fact, I think 
 it likely that they ll be indicted, in which case, it s 
 probable they will be tried." 
 
 " Certainly, sir ; I had forgotten these men. 
 There are no more I hope." 
 
 " Why, there is a threaten to come forrad with 
 
436 
 
 THE PIONEERS 
 
 an assault, that happened at the last independence 
 day ; but I m not sartain that the law ll take hold 
 on t. There was plaguey hard words passed, but 
 whether they struck or not I haven t heern. 
 There s some folks talk of a deer or two being 
 killed out of season, over on the west side of the 
 patent, by some of the squatters on the Frac 
 tions. " 
 
 " Let a complaint be made, by all means," cried 
 the Judge ; " I am determined to see the law exe 
 cuted to the letter, on all such depredators." 
 
 " Why, yes, I thought the Judge was of that 
 mind ; I come partly on such a business myself." 
 
 " You !" exclaimed Marmaduke, comprehending 
 in an instant, how completely he had been caught 
 by the other s cunning ; " and what have you to 
 say, sir ?" 
 
 " I some think that Natty Bumppo has the car 
 cass of a deer in his hut at this moment, and a con 
 siderable part of my business was to get a sarch- 
 warrant to examine." 
 
 " You think, sir ! do you know that the law ex 
 acts an oath, before I can issue such a precept. 
 The habitation of a citizen is not to be idly invaded 
 on light suspicion." 
 
 " I rather think I can swear to it myself," re 
 turned the immovable Hiram ; " and Jotham is in 
 the street, and as good as ready to come in and 
 make oath to the same thing." 
 
 " Then issue the warrant thyself; thou art a 
 magistrate, Mr. Doolittle ; why trouble me with 
 the matter ?" 
 
 " Why, seeing it s the first complaint under the 
 law, and knowing the Judge set his heart on the 
 thing, I thought it best that the authority to sarch 
 should come from himself. Besides, as I m much 
 in the woods, among the timber, I don t altogether 
 
THE PIONEERS. 437 
 
 like making an enemy of the Leather-stocking. 
 Now the Judge has a weight in the county that 
 puts him above all fear." 
 
 Miss Temple turned her beautiful face to the cal 
 lous architect, with a scornful smile, as she said 
 
 " And what has any honest person to dread from 
 so kind a man as poor Bumppo ?" 
 
 " Why, it s as easy, Miss, to pull a rifle-trigger 
 on a magistrate as on a painter. But if the Judge 
 don t conclude to issoo the warrant, I must go home 
 and make it out myself." 
 
 " I have not refused your application, sir," said 
 Marmaduke, perceiving at once that his reputation 
 for impartiality was at stake ; " go into my office, 
 Mr. Doolittle, where I will join you, and sign the 
 warrant." 
 
 Judge Temple stopped the remonstrances which 
 Elizabeth was about to utter, after Hiram had with 
 drawn, by laying his hand playfully on her mouth, 
 and saying 
 
 " It is more terrific in sound than frightful in re 
 ality, my child. I suppose that the Leather-stock 
 ing has shot a deer, for the season is nearly over, 
 and you say that he was hunting with his dogs, 
 when he came so timely to your assistance. But 
 it will be only to examine his cabin, and find the 
 animal, when you can pay the penalty out of youi 
 own pocket, Bess. Nothing short of the twelve 
 dollars and a half will satisfy this harpy, I perceive ; 
 and surely my reputation as a Judge is worth that 
 trifle." 
 
 Elizabeth was a good deal pacified with this as 
 surance, and suffered her father to leave her, to 
 fulfil his promise to Hiram. 
 
 When Marmaduke left his office, after executing 
 his disagreeable duty, he met Oliver Edwards, 
 walking up the gravelled walk in front of the Man- 
 37* 
 
438 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 sion-house, with great strides, and with a face agi- 
 tated by some powerful passion. On seeing Judge 
 Temple, the youth turned aside, and with a warmth 
 in his manner that was not often exhibited to Mar- 
 maduke, he cried 
 
 " I congratulate you, sir ; from the bottom of 
 my soul I congratulate you, Judge Temple. Oh ! 
 it would have been too horrid to have recollected 
 for a moment ! I have just left the hut, where, after 
 showing me his scalps, old Natty told me of the 
 escape of the ladies, as a thing to be mentioned 
 last. Indeed, indeed, sir, no words of mine can 
 express half of what I have felt" the youth paused 
 a moment as if suddenly recollecting that he was 
 overstepping prescribed limits, and concluded with 
 a good deal of embarrassment " what I have felt 
 at this danger to Miss Grant, and and your 
 daughter, sir." 
 
 But the heart of Marmaduke was too much soft 
 ened by his recent emotions, to admit of his cavil 
 ling at trifles, and without regarding the confusion 
 of the other, he replied 
 
 " I thank thee, thank thee, Oliver ; as thou say- 
 est, it is almost too horrid to be remembered. But 
 come, let us hasten to Bess, for Louisa has already 
 gone to the Rectory." 
 
 " The young man sprung forward, and throwing 
 open a door, barely permitted the Judge to precede 
 him, when he was in the presence of Elizabeth in 
 a moment. 
 
 The cold distance that often crossed the de 
 meanour of the heiress, in her intercourse with Ed 
 wards, was now entirely banished, and two hours 
 were passed by the party, in the free unembar 
 rassed, and confiding manner of old and esteemed 
 friends. Judge Temple had forgotten the suspi 
 cions engendered during his morning s ride, and 
 
THE PIONEERS. 439 
 
 the youth and maiden conversed, laughed, and 
 were sad by turns, as if directed by a common im 
 pulse. At length Edwards, after repeating his in 
 tention to do so for the third time, left the Man 
 sion-house, to go to the Rectory on a similar er 
 rand of friendship. 
 
 During this short period, a scene was passing at 
 the hut, that completely frustrated the benevolent 
 intentions of Judge Temple in favour of the Lea 
 ther-stocking, and at once destroyed the short 
 lived harmony between the youth and Marmaduke. 
 
 When Hiram Doolittle had obtained his search- 
 warrant, his first business was to procure a proper 
 officer to see it executed. The sheriff was absent, 
 summoning, in person, the grand inquest for the 
 Bounty ; the deputy, who resided in the village, 
 was riding on the same errand, in a different part 
 of the settlement ; and the regular constable of the 
 township had been selected for his station from 
 motives of charity, being lame of one leg, and an 
 invalid. Hiram intended to accompany the officer 
 as a spectator, but felt no very strong desire to 
 bear the brunt of the battle. It was, however, 
 Saturday, and the sun was already turning the 
 shadows of the pines towards the east ; on the mor 
 row the conscientious magistrate could not engage 
 in such an expedition at the peril of his soul ; and 
 long before Monday, the venison, and all vestiges 
 of the death of the deer, might be secreted or de 
 stroyed. Happily the lounging form of Billy Kirby 
 met his eye, and Hiram, at all times fruitful in si 
 milar expedients, saw his way clear at once. Jo- 
 tham, who was associated in the whole business, 
 and who had left the mountain in consequence of a 
 summons from his coadjutor, lut who failed, equally 
 with Hiram, in the unfortunate particular of nerve, 
 
 
440 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 was directed to summon the wood chopper to the 
 dwelling of the magistrate. 
 
 When Billy appeared, he was very kindly invited 
 to take the chair in which he had already seated 
 himself, and was treated, in all respects, as if he 
 were an equal. 
 
 " Judge Temple has set his heart on putting the 
 deer law in force," said Hiram, after the prelimi 
 nary civilities were over, " and a complaint has 
 been laid before him that a deer has been killed. 
 He has issooed a sarch-warrant, and sent for me to 
 get somebody to execute it." 
 
 Kirby, who had no idea of being excluded from 
 the deliberative part of any affair in which he was 
 engaged, drew up his bushy head in a reflecting 
 attitude, and, after musing a moment, replied by 
 asking a few questions. 
 
 " The Sheriff is gone out of the way ?" 
 
 " Not to be found." 
 
 " And his deputy too ? 7: 
 
 " Both gone on the skirts of the patent." 
 
 " But I seen the constable hobbling about town 
 an hour ago." 
 
 " Yes, yes," said Hiram, with a coaxing smile 
 and knowing nod, " but this business wants a man 
 not a cripple." 
 
 " Why," said Billy, laughing, " will the chap 
 make fight ?" 
 
 " He s a little quarrelsome at times, and thinks 
 he s the best man in the county at rough and 
 tumble." 
 
 " I heerd him brag once, said Jotham, " that 
 there wasn t a man twixt the Mohawk Flats and 
 the Pennsylvany line, that was his match at a close 
 hug." 
 
 " Did you !" exclaimed Kirby, raising his huge 
 
THE PIONEERS. 441 
 
 frame in his seat, like a lion stretching in his lair, 
 " I rather guess he never felt a Varmounter s to 
 knuckles on his back-bone. But who is the chap ? " 
 
 " Why," said Jotham, " it s" 
 
 " It s ag in law to tell," interrupted Hiram, " un 
 less you ll qualify to sarve. You d be the very 
 man to take him, Bill ; and I ll make out a spicial 
 deputation in a minute, when you will get the 
 fees." 
 
 " What s the fees?" said Kirby, laying his large 
 hand on the leaves of a statute-book, that Hiram 
 had opened in order to give dignity to his office, 
 which he turned over, in his rough manner, as if 
 he were reflecting on a subject, about which he 
 had, in truth, already decided ; " will they pay a 
 man for a broken head ?" 
 
 " They ll be something handsome," said Hi- 
 sam. 
 
 " Damn the fees," said Billy, again laughing 
 " doos the fellow think he s the best wrestler in 
 the county, though ? what s his inches ?" 
 
 " He s taller than you be," said Jotham, " and 
 one of the biggest " 
 
 Talkers, he was about to add, but the impatience 
 of Kirby interrupted him. The wood-chopper had 
 nothing fierce, or even brutal in his appearance ; 
 the character of his expression was that of good- 
 natured vanity. It was evident he prided himself 
 on the powers of the physical man, like all who 
 have nothing better to boast of; and, stretching 
 out his broad hand, with the palm downward, he 
 said, keeping his eyes fastened on his own bones 
 and sinews 
 
 " Come, give us a touch of the book. I ll swear, 
 and you ll see that I m a man to keep my oath." 
 
 Hiram did not give the wood-chopper time to 
 change his mind, but the oath was administered 
 
442 
 
 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 without any unnecessary delay. So soon as this 
 preliminary was completed, the three worthies left 
 the house, and proceeded by the nearest road to 
 wards the hut. They had reached the bank of the 
 lake, and were diverging from the route of the 
 highway, before Kirby recollected that he was now 
 entitled to the privileges of the initiated, and re 
 peated his question, as to the name of the of 
 fender. 
 
 " Which way, which way, Squire ?" exclaimed 
 the hardy wood-chopper ; " I thought it was to 
 sarch a house that you wanted me, not the woods. 
 There is nobody lives on this side of the lake, for 
 six miles, unless you count the Leather-stocking 
 and old John for settlers. Come, tell me the chap s 
 name, and I warrant me that I lead you to his 
 clearing by a straighter path than this, for I know 
 every sapling that grows within two miles of Tem- 
 pletown." 
 
 " This is the way," said Hiram, pointing for 
 ward, and quickening his step, as if apprehensive 
 that Kirby would desert, "and Bumppo is the 
 man." 
 
 Kirby stopped short, and looked from one of his 
 companions to the other in astonishment. He then 
 burst into a loud laugh, and cried 
 
 " Who ? Leather-stocking ! he may brag of his 
 aim and his rifle, for he has the best of both, as I 
 will own myself, for sin he shot the pigeon I knock 
 under to him ; but for a wrestle ! why, I would 
 take the divil between my finger and thumb, and 
 tie him in a bow-knot around my neck for a Bar- 
 celony. Why, Jotham, you could take him down 
 yourself, as you d take down a two years pine with 
 an axe. The man is seventy, and was never any 
 thing particular for strength." 
 
 ** He s a deceiving man," said Hiram, u like all 
 
THE PIONEERS. 443 
 
 Che hunters ; he is stronger than he seems ; be 
 sides, he has his rifle." 
 
 " That for his rifle !" cried Billy, " he d no more 
 hurt me with his rifle than he d fly He is a harm 
 less creater, and I must say that I think he has as 
 good right to kill deer as any man on the patent. 
 It s his main support, and this is a free country, 
 where a man is privileged to follow any calling he 
 likes." 
 
 " According to that doctrine," said Jotham, " any 
 body may shoot a deer." 
 
 " This is the man s calling, I tell you," returned 
 Kirby, " and the law was never made for such as 
 him." 
 
 " The law was made for all," observed Hiram, 
 who began to think that the danger was likely to 
 fall to his own share, notwithstanding his manage 
 ment ; " and the law is particular in noticing par- 
 jury." 
 
 " See here, Squire Doolittle," said the reckless 
 wood-chopper, " I don t kear the valie of a beetle- 
 ring for you and your parjury too. But as I have 
 come so far, I ll go down and have a talk with the 
 old man, and maybe we ll fry a steak of the deer 
 together." 
 
 " Well, if you can get in peaceably, so much the 
 better," said the magistrate. " To my notion, strife 
 is very unpopular ; I prefar, at all times, clever 
 conduct to an ugly temper." 
 
 " As the whole party moved at a great pace, 
 th*y soon reached the hut, where Hiram thought 
 it prudent to halt on the outside of the top of the 
 fallen pine, which formed a chevaux-de-fnze, to 
 defend the approach to the fortress, on the side 
 next to the village. The delay was but little re 
 lished by Kirby, who clapped his hands to his 
 mouth, and gave a loud halloo, that brought the 
 
444 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 dogs out of their kennel, and, almost at the same 
 instant, the scantily covered head of Natty also 
 from the door. 
 
 " Lie down, you old fool," cried the hunter ; 
 " do you think there s more painters about you." 
 
 " Ha ! Leather-stocking, I ve an arrand with 
 you," cried Kirby ; " here s the good people of the 
 state have been writing you a small letter, and 
 they ve hired me to ride post." 
 
 " What would you have with me, Billy Kirby ?" 
 said Natty, stepping across his threshold, and rais 
 ing his hand over his eyes to screen them from the 
 rays of the setting sun, while he took a survey of 
 his visiter. " I ve no land to clear ; and heaven 
 knows I would set out six trees afore I would cut 
 down one. Down, Hector, I say, into your ken 
 nel with ye." 
 
 " Would you, old boy ?" roared Billy ; " then so 
 much the better for me. But I must do my arrand. 
 Here s a letter for you, Leather-stocking. If you 
 can read it it s all well, and if you can t, here s 
 Squire Doolittle at hand, to let you know what it 
 means. It seems you mistook the twentieth of Ju 
 ly for the first of August, that s all." 
 
 By this time Natty had discovered the lank per 
 son of Hiram, drawn up under the cover of a high 
 stump ; and all that was complacent in his manner 
 instantly gave way to marked distrust and dissatis 
 faction. He placed his head within the door of his 
 hut, and said a few words in an under tone, when 
 he again appeared, and continued 
 
 " I ve nothing for ye ; so away, afore the evil 
 one tempts me to do you harm. I owe you no 
 spite, Billy Kirby, and what for should you trouble 
 an old man, who has done you no harm ?" 
 
 Kirby advanced through the top of the pine, to 
 within a few feet of the hunter, where he seated 
 
THE PIONEERS. 445 
 
 himself on the end of a log with great composure, 
 and began to examine the nose of Hector, with 
 whom he was familiar, from their frequently meet 
 ing in the woods, where he sometimes fed the dog 
 from his own basket of provisions. 
 
 " You ve outshot me, and Fm not ashamed to 
 say it," said the wood-chopper, " but I don t owe 
 you a grudge for that, Natty ! though it seems that 
 you ve shot once too often, for the story goes that 
 you ve killed a buck." 
 
 " I ve fired but twice to-day, and both times at 
 the painters," returned the Leather-stocking ; 
 " see ! here s the scalps ! I was just going in with 
 them to the Judge s to ask the bounty." 
 
 While Natty was speaking, he tossed the ears to 
 Kirby, who continued playing with them, with a 
 careless air, holding them to the dogs, and laughing 
 at their movements when they scented the unusual 
 game. 
 
 But Hiram, emboldened by the advance of the 
 deputed constable, now ventured to approach also, 
 and took up the discourse with the air of authority 
 that became his commission. His first measure was 
 to read the warrant aloud, taking care to give due 
 emphasis to the most material parts, and concluding 
 with the name of the Judge in very audible and 
 distinct tones. 
 
 " Did Marmaduke Temple put his name to that 
 bit of paper !" said Natty, shaking his head ; 
 C well, well, that man loves the new ways, and his 
 betterments, and his lands, afore his own flesh and 
 blood. But I won t mistrust the gal : she has an 
 eye like a full-grown buck ! poor thing, she didn t 
 choose her father, and can t help it. I know but 
 little of the law, Mr. Doolittle ; what is to be done, 
 how you have read your commission ?" 
 
 " Oh ! it s nothing but form, Natty," said Hiram, 
 38 
 
446 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 endeavouring to assume a friendly aspect. " Let s 
 go in, and talk the thing over in reason. I dare to 
 say that the money can be easily found, though I 
 conclude, from what passed, that Judge Temple 
 will pay it himself." 
 
 The old hunter had kept a keen eye on the 
 movements of his three visiters, from the begin 
 ning, and had maintained his position, just without 
 the threshold of his cabin, with a determined man 
 ner, that showed he was not to be easily driven 
 from his post. When Hiram drew nigher, as if 
 expecting that his proposition would be accepted, 
 Natty lifted his hand and motioned for him to re 
 treat. 
 
 " Haven t I told you more than once, not to tempt 
 me," he said. " I trouble no man ; why can t the 
 law leave me to myself? Go back go back, and 
 tell your Judge that he may keep his bounty ; but I 
 won t have his wasty ways brought into my hut." 
 
 This offer, however, instead of appeasing the cu 
 riosity of Hiram, seemed to inflame it the more ; 
 while Kirby cried 
 
 " Well, that s fair, Squire ; he forgives the county 
 his demand, and the county should forgive him the 
 fine ; it s what I call an even trade, and should be 
 concluded on the spot. I like quick dealings, and 
 what s fair twixt man and man." 
 
 " I demand entrance into this house," said Hi 
 ram, summoning all the dignity he could muster to 
 his assistance, " in the name of the people, and by 
 vartoo of this warrant, and of my office, and with 
 this peace-officer." 
 
 " Stand back, stand back, Squire, and don t tempt 
 me," said the Leather-stocking, motioning for him 
 to retire, with great earnestness. 
 
 " Stop us at your peril," continued Hiram 
 " B illy ! Jotham ! close up I want your testimony.* 
 
THE PIONEERS. 447 
 
 Hiram had mistaken the mild but determined air 
 of Natty for submission, and had already put his 
 foot on the threshold to enter, when he was 
 seized unexpectedly by his shoulders, and hurled 
 over the little bank towards the lake, to the dis 
 tance of twenty feet. The suddenness of the move 
 ment, and the unexpected display of strength on 
 the part of Natty, created a momentary astonish 
 ment in his invaders, that silenced all noises ; but 
 at the next instant Billy Kirby gave vent to his 
 mirth in loud peals of laughter that he seemed to 
 heave up from his very soul. 
 
 " Well done, old stub !" he shouted ; " the Squire 
 know d you better than I did. Come, come, here s 
 a green spot ; take it out like men, while Jotham 
 and I see fair play." 
 
 " William Kirby, I order you to do your duty," 
 cried Hiram, from under the bank; "seize that 
 man ; I order you to seize him in the name of the 
 people." 
 
 But the Leather-stocking now assumed a more 
 threatening attitude ; his rifle was in his hand, and 
 its muzzle was directed towards the wood-chop 
 per. 
 
 " Stand off, I bid ye," said Natty ; " you know 
 my aim, Billy Kirby ; I don t crave your blood, 
 but mine and yourn both shall turn this green grass 
 red, afore you put your foot into the hut." 
 
 While the affair appeared trifling, the wood-chop 
 per seemed disposed to take sides with the weak 
 er party ; but when the fire-arms were introduced, 
 his manner very sensibly changed, He raised his 
 large frame from the log, and, facing the hunter 
 with an open front, he replied 
 
 " I didn t come here as your enemy, Leather- 
 slocking ; but I don t vallie the hollow piece of 
 iron in your hand so much as a broken axe-helve 
 
448 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 so, Squh-e, say the word, and keep within the 
 law, and we ll soon see who s the best man of the 
 two." 
 
 But no magistrate was to be seen ! The instant 
 the rifle was produced Hiram and Jotham vanish 
 ed ; and when the wood-chopper bent his eyes 
 about him in surprise at receiving no answer, he 
 discovered their retreating figures, moving towards 
 the village, at a rate that sufficiently indicated that 
 they had not only calculated the velocity of a rifle- 
 bullet, but also its probable range. 
 
 " You ve skeared the creaters off," said Kirby, 
 with great contempt expressed on his broad fea 
 tures ; " but you are not a-going to skear me ; so, 
 Mr. Bumppo, down with your gun, or there ll soon 
 be trouble twixt us." 
 
 Natty dropped his rifle, and replied 
 
 " I wish you no harm, Billy Kirby ; but I leave 
 it to yourself, whether an old man s hut is to be 
 run down .by such varmint as them. I won t deny 
 the buck to you, Billy, and you may take the skin 
 in, if you please, and show it as a testimony. The 
 bounty will pay the fine, and that ought to satisfy 
 any man." 
 
 " Twill, old boy, twill," cried Kirby, every 
 shade of displeasure vanishing from his open brow 
 at the peace-offering ; " throw out the hide, and 
 that shall satisfy the law." 
 
 Natty entered his hut, and soon reappeared, 
 bringing with him the desired testimonial, and the 
 wood-chopper departed, as thoroughly reconciled 
 to the hunter as if nothing had happened. As he 
 paced along the margin of the lake, he would burst 
 into frequent fits of laughter, while he recollected 
 the summerset of Hiram ; and, on the whole, he 
 thought the affair a very capital joke. 
 
 Long before Billy reached the village, however. 
 
THE PIONEERS 449 
 
 the news of his danger, and of Natty s disrespect 
 to the law, and of Hiram s discomfiture, were in 
 circulation. A good deal was said about sending 
 for the Sheriff; some hints were given about call 
 ing out the posse comitatus to avenge the insult 
 ed laws ; and many of the citizens were collect 
 ed, deliberating how to proceed. The arrival of 
 Billy with the skin, by removing all grounds for a 
 search, changed the complexion of things materi 
 ally. Nothing now remained but to collect the 
 tine, and assert the dignity of the people ; all of 
 which, it was unanimously agreed, could be done 
 as well on the succeeding Monday as on a Saturday 
 night, a time^kept sacred by a large portion of the 
 settlers. Accordingly, all further proceedings were 
 suspended for six-and-thirty hours. 
 38* 
 
CHAPTEE XXXI. 
 
 " And dar st thou, then, 
 To beard the lion in his den, 
 The Douglass in his hall ." 
 
 Marmion. 
 
 THE commotion was just subsiding, and the in 
 habitants of the village had begun to disperse from 
 the little groups they had formed, each retiring to 
 his own home, and closing his door after him, with 
 the grave air of a man who consulted public feeling 
 in his exterior deportment, when Oliver Edwards, 
 on his return from the dwelling of Mr. Grant, en 
 countered the young lawyer, who is known to the 
 reader as Mr. Lippet. There was very little simi 
 larity in the manners or opinions of the two ; but 
 as they both belonged to the more intelligent 
 class of a very small community, they were, of 
 course, known to each other ; and as their meet 
 ing was at a point where silence would have been 
 rudeness, the following conversation was the result 
 of their interview : 
 
 " A fine evening, Mr. Edwards," commenced 
 the lawyer, whose disinclination to the dialogue 
 was, to say the least, very doubtful ; " we want 
 rain sadly; that s the worst of this climate of 
 ours, it s either a drought or a deluge. It s likely 
 you ve been used to a more equal temperatoore ? 
 
THE PIONEERS. 451 
 
 u I am a native of this state," returned Edwards, 
 coldly. 
 
 " Well, I ve often heerd that point disputed , 
 out it s so easy to get a man naturalized, that it s 
 of little consequence where he was born. I won 
 der what course the Judge means to take in this 
 business of Natty Bumppo ?" 
 
 "Of Natty Bumppo!" echoed Edwards; "to 
 what do you allude, sir ?" 
 
 " Haven t you heerd !" exclaimed the other, 
 with a look of surprise, so naturally assumed, as 
 completely to deceive the other; " why, it may 
 turn out an ugly business. It seems that the old 
 man has been out in the hills, and has shot a buck, 
 this morning, and that, you know, is a criminal 
 matter in the eyes of Judge Temple." 
 
 " Oh ! he has, has he !" said Edwards, averting 
 his face to conceal the colour that collected in his 
 sun-burnt cheek. " Well, if that be all, he must 
 even pay the fine." 
 
 " It s five pounds currency," said the lawyer ; 
 " could Natty muster so much money at once ?" 
 
 " Could he !" cried the youth. " I am not rich, 
 Mr. Lippet ; far from it I am poor, and I have been 
 hoarding my salary for a purpose that lies near my 
 heart ; but before that old man should lie one hour 
 in a jail, I would spend the last cent to prevent it. 
 Besides he has killed two panthers, and the bounty 
 will discharge the fine many times over." 
 
 " Yes, yes," said the lawyer, rubbing his hands 
 together, with an expression of pleasure that had 
 no artifice about it ; " we shall make it out ; I see 
 plainly we shall make it out." 
 
 " Make what out, sir ? I must beg an explana 
 tion." 
 
 " Why, killing the buck is but a small matter 
 compared to what took place this afternoon," con- 
 
452 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 tinued Mr. Lippet with a confidential and friendly 
 air, that insensibly won upon the youth, as little as 
 he liked the man. " It seems, that a complaint was 
 made of the fact, and the suspicion that there was 
 venison in the hut was sworn to, all which is pro 
 vided for in the statoote, when Judge Temple 
 granted a search-warrant" 
 
 " A search-warrant !" echoed Edwards, in a 
 voice of horror, and with a face that should have 
 been again averted, to conceal its paleness ; " and 
 how much did they discover ? What did they see r" 
 
 " They saw old Bumppo s rifle ; and that is a 
 sight which will quiet most men s curiosity in the 
 woods." 
 
 " Did they ! did they !" shouted Edwards, burst 
 ing into a convulsive laugh ; " so the old hero beat 
 them back ! he beat them back ! did he ?" 
 
 The lawyer fastened his eyes in astonishment 
 on the youth ; but as his wonder gave way to the 
 thoughts that were commonly uppermost in his 
 mind, he replied 
 
 " It s no laughing matter, let me tell you, sir ; 
 the forty dollars of bounty, and your six months of 
 salary will be much reduced before you can get 
 the matter fairly settled. Assaulting a magistrate 
 in the execootion of his duty, and menacing a con- 
 . stable with fire-arms, at the same time, is a pretty 
 serious affair, and is punishable with both fine and 
 imprisonment." 
 
 " Imprisonment !" repeated Oliver ; " imprison 
 the Leather-stocking ! no, no, sir ; it would bring 
 the old man to his grave. They shall never im 
 prison the Leather-stocking." 
 
 " Well, Mr. Edwards," said Lippet, dropping all 
 reserve from his manner, " you are called a curious 
 man ; but if you can tell me how a jury is to be 
 prevented from finding a verdict of guilty, if this 
 
THE PIONEERS. 453 
 
 case comes fairly before them, and the proof is 
 clear, I shall acknowledge that you know more 
 law than I do, who have had a license in my pock 
 et for three years." 
 
 By this time the reason of Edwards was getting 
 the* ascendency of his feelings ; and as he began to 
 see the real difficulties in the case, he listened more 
 readily to the conversation of the lawyer. The 
 ungovernable emotion that escaped the youth, in 
 the first moment of his surprise, entirely passed 
 away, and although it was still evident that he con 
 tinued to be much agitated by what he had heard, 
 he succeeded in yielding a forced attention to the 
 advice which the other uttered. 
 
 Notwithstanding the confused state of his mind, 
 Oliver soon discovered that most of the expedients 
 of the lawyer were grounded in cunning, and plans 
 that required a time to execute them in, that nei 
 ther suited his disposition nor his emergencies. 
 After, however, giving Mr. Lippet to understand 
 that he retained him in the event of a trial, an as 
 surance that at once satisfied the lawyer, they 
 parted, one taking his course, with a deliberate 
 tread, in the direction of the little building that had 
 a wooden sign over its door, with " Chester Lip- 
 pet, Attorney at Law," painted on it; and the 
 other, pacing over the ground, with enormous 
 strides, towards the Mansion-house. We shall take 
 leave of the attorney for the present, and direct 
 the attention of the reader to his client. 
 
 When Edwards entered the hall, whose enor 
 mous doors were opened to the passage of the air 
 of a mild evening, he found Benjamin engaged in 
 some of his domestic avocations, and in a hurried 
 voice inquired where Judge Temple was to be 
 found. 
 
 " Why, the Judge has just stept into his office, 
 
454 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 with that master carpenter, Mister Doolittle ; but 
 Miss Lizzy is in that there parlour. I say, Master 
 Oliver, we d like to have had a bad job of that 
 panther, or painter s work some calls it one, and 
 some calls it t other but I know little of the beast, 
 seeing that it is not of British, growth. I said as 
 much as that it was in the hills, the last winter ; 
 for I heard it moaning on the lake shore one even 
 ing in the fall, when I was pulling down from the 
 fishing point in the skiff. Had the animal come 
 into the open water, where a man could see where 
 and how to work his vessel, I would have engaged 
 the thing myself; but looking aloft among the trees 
 is all the same to me as standing on the deck of 
 one ship, and looking at another vessel s tops. I 
 never can tell one rope from another " 
 
 " Well, well," interrupted Edwards ; " I must 
 see Miss Temple." 
 
 " And you shall see her, sir," said the steward ; 
 " she s in this here room. Oh ! Lord, Master Ed 
 wards, what a loss she d have been to the Judge ! 
 Dam me if I know where he would have gotten 
 such another daughter ; that is, full grown, d ye 
 see. I say, sir, this Master Bumppo is a worthy 
 man, and seems to have a handy way with him, 
 with fire-arms and boat-hooks. I m his friend, 
 Master Oliver, and he and you may both set me 
 down as the same." 
 
 " We may want your friendship, my worthy fel 
 low," cried Edwards, squeezing his hand convul 
 sively " We may want your friendship, in which 
 case you shall know it." 
 
 Without waiting to hear the earnest reply that 
 Benjamin meditated, the youth extricated himself 
 from the vigorous grasp of the steward, and en 
 tered the parlour. 
 
 Elizabeth was alone, and still reclining on the 
 
THE PIONEERS. 455 
 
 sofa, where we last left her. A hand, which ex 
 ceeded all that the ingenuity of art could model, 
 in shape and colour, veiled her eyes ; and the 
 maiden was sitting in an abstracted posture, as if 
 communing deeply with herself. Struck by the 
 attitude and loveliness of the form that met his eye, 
 the young man checked his impatience, and ap 
 proached her with respect and caution. 
 
 " Miss Temple Miss Temple," he said, " I hope 
 I do not intrude ; but I am anxious to see you, if it 
 be only for a moment." 
 
 Elizabeth raised her face, and exhibited her dark 
 eyes swimming in moisture ; but a flush crossed 
 her cheeks, that resembled the tints which the 
 setting sun throws over the neighbouring clouds. 
 
 " Is it you, Edwards ?" she said, with a sweet 
 ness in her voice, and a softness in her air, that 
 she often used to her father, but which, from its 
 novelty to himself, thrilled on every nerve of the 
 youth ; " how left you our poor Louise ?" 
 
 " She is with her father, happy and grateful," 
 said Oliver. " I never witnessed more feeling than 
 she manifested, when I ventured to express my 
 pleasure at her escape. I know not how it was, 
 Miss Temple, but when I first heard of your hor 
 rid situation, my feelings were too powerful for 
 utterance ; and I did not properly find my tongue, 
 until the walk to Mr. Grant s had given me time 
 to collect myself. I believe I do believe, I ac 
 quitted myself better there, for Miss Grant even 
 wept at my silly speeches." 
 
 For a moment Elizabeth did not reply, but again 
 veiled her eyes with her hand. The feeling that 
 caused the action, however, soon passed away, and, 
 raising her face again to his gaze, she continued, 
 with a smile 
 
 " Your friend, the Leather-stocking, has now 
 
456 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 become my friend, Edwards ; I have been thinking 
 how I can best serve him ; perhaps you, who know 
 his habits and his wants so well, can tell me " 
 
 " I can," cried the youth, with an impetuosity 
 that startled the maiden " I can, and may Heaven 
 reward you for the wish. Natty has been so im 
 prudent as to forget the law, and has this day killed 
 a deer. Nay, I believe I must share in the crime 
 and the penalty, for I was an accomplice through 
 out. A complaint has been made to your father, 
 and he has granted a search " 
 
 " I know it all," interrupted Elizabeth, beckon 
 ing with her hand for silence ; " I know it I know 
 it all. The forms of the law must be complied 
 with, however ; the search must be made, the deer 
 found, and the penalty paid. But I must retort 
 your own question. Have you lived so lorg in 
 our family, not to know us ? Look at me, Oliver 
 Edwards. Do I appear like the girl who would 
 permit the man that has just saved her life to linger 
 in a jail, for so small a sum as this fine ? No, no, 
 sir ; my father is a Judge, but he is a man and a 
 Christian. It is all understood, and no harm shall 
 follow." 
 
 " What a load of apprehension do your declara 
 tions remove !" exclaimed Edwards. " He shall 
 not be disturbed again ! your father will protect 
 him ! I have your assurance, Miss Temple, that he 
 will, and I must believe it." 
 
 " You may have his own, Mr. Edwards," re 
 turned Elizabeth, " for here he comes to make it." 
 
 But the appearance of Marmaduke, who entered 
 the apartment, contradicted the flattering anticipa 
 tions of his daughter. His brow was contracted 
 with a look of care, and his manner was disturbed. 
 Neither Elizabeth nor the youth spoke ; but the 
 
THE PIONEERS. 457 
 
 Judge was allowed to pace once or twice across 
 the room without interruption, when he cried 
 
 " Our plans are defeated, girl ; the obstinacy of 
 the Leather-stocking has brought down the indig 
 nation of the law on his devoted head, and it is out 
 of my power to avert it." 
 
 " How ? in what manner ?" cried Elizabeth ; 
 u the fine is nothing ; surely " 
 
 " I did not I could not anticipate that an old, a 
 friendless man like him, would dare to oppose the 
 officers of justice," interrupted the Judge ; " I sup 
 posed that he would submit to the search, when 
 the fine could have been paid, and the law would 
 have been appeased ; but now he will have to meet 
 its rigour." 
 
 " And what must the punishment be, sir ?" ask 
 ed Edwards, in an agitated voice. 
 
 Marmaduke turned quickly to the spot where 
 the youth had withdrawn, and exclaimed 
 
 " You here ! I did not observe you. I know not 
 what it will be, sir ; it is not usual for a Judge to 
 decide, until he has heard the testimony, and the 
 jury have convicted. Of one thing, however, you 
 may be assured, Mr. Edwards ; it shall be what 
 ever the law demands, notwithstanding any mo 
 mentary weakness I may have exhibited, because 
 the luckless man has been of such eminent service 
 to my daughter." 
 
 " No one, I believe, doubts the sense of justice 
 which Judge Temple entertains !" returned Ed 
 wards, bitterly. " But let us converse calmly, sir 
 Will not the years, the habits, nay, the ignorance 
 of my old friend, avail him any thing against such 
 a charge ?" 
 
 " Ought they ? I may ask," returned Marmaduke. 
 " They may extenuate, but can they acquit ? Would 
 any society be tolerable, young man, where the 
 39 
 
458 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 ministers of justice are to be opposed by men arm 
 ed with rifles ? Is it for this that I have tamed the 
 wilderness ?" 
 
 " Had you tamed the beasts that so lately threat 
 ened the life of Miss Temple, sir, your arguments 
 would apply better." 
 
 " Edwards !" exclaimed Elizabeth 
 
 " Peace, my child," interrupted her father ; 
 "the youth is unjust ; but I have not given him 
 cause. I overlook thy remark, Oliver, for I know 
 thee to be the friend of Natty, and thy zeal in his 
 behalf has overcome thy discretion." 
 
 " Yes, he is my friend," cried Edwards, " and I 
 glory in the title. He is simple, unlettered, even 
 ignorant ; prejudiced, perhaps, though I feel that 
 his opinion of the world is too true ; but he has a 
 heart, Judge Temple, that would atone for a thou 
 sand faults ; he knows his friends, and never de 
 serts them, even if it be his dog." 
 
 " This is a good character, Mr. Edwards," re 
 turned Marmaduke, mildly ; " but I have never 
 been so fortunate as to secure his esteem, for to 
 me he has been uniformly repulsive ; yet I have 
 endured it, as an old man s whim. However, whsn 
 he appears before me, as his judge, he shall find 
 that his former conduct shall not aggravate, any 
 more than his recent services shall extenuate his 
 crime." 
 
 " Crime !" echoed Edwards ; " is it a crime to 
 drive a prying miscreant from his door ? Crime ! 
 Oh ! no, sir ; if there be a criminal involved in this 
 affair, it is not he." 
 
 " And w T ho may it be, sir ?" asked Judge Tem 
 ple, facing the agitated youth, with his fine, manly 
 features settled to thei; usual composure. 
 
 This appeal was more than the young man could 
 bear. Hitherto he had been deeply agitated by 
 
THE PIONEERS. 459 
 
 his emotions ; but now the volcano burst its boun 
 daries. 
 
 " Who ! and this to me i" he cried ; " ask your 
 own conscience, Judge Temple. Walk to that 
 door, sir, and look out upon the valley, that placid 
 lake, and those dusky mountains, and say to your 
 own heart, if heart you have, whence came these 
 riches, this vale, those hills, and why am I their 
 owner ? I should think, sir, that" the appearance 
 of Mohegan and the Leather-stocking, stalking 
 through the country, impoverished and forlorn, 
 would wither your sight." 
 
 Marmaduke- heard this burst of passion, at first 
 with deep amazement ; but when the youth had 
 ended, he beckoned to his impatient daughter for 
 silence, and replied 
 
 " Oliver Edwards, thou forgettest in whose pre 
 sence thou standest. I have heard, young man, 
 that thou claimest descent from the native owners 
 of the soil; but surely thy education has been 
 given thee to no effect, if it has not taught thee 
 the validity of the claims that have transferred the 
 title to the whites. These lands are mine by the 
 very grants of thy ancestry, if thou art so descend 
 ed ; and I appeal to Heaven, for a testimony of the 
 uses I have put them to. After this language, we 
 must separate. I have too long sheltered thee in 
 my dwelling; but the time has arrived when 
 thou must quit it. Come to my office, and I will 
 discharge the debt I owe thee. Neither shall thy 
 present intemperate language mar thy future for 
 tunes, if thou wilt hearken to the advice of one 
 who is by many years thy senior." 
 
 The ungoverning feeling that caused the vio 
 lence of the youth had passed away, and he stood 
 gazing after the retiring figure of Marmaduke, with 
 a vacancy in his eye, that denoted the absence of 
 
460 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 his mind. At length he recollected himself, and, 
 turning his head slowly around the apaiiment, he 
 beheld Elizabeth, still seated on the sofa, but with 
 her head dropped on her bosom, and her face again 
 concealed by her hands. 
 
 " Miss Temple," he said all violence had left 
 his manner " Miss Temple I have forgotten my 
 self forgotten you. You have heard what your 
 father tias decreed, and this night I leave here. 
 With you I would part in amity." 
 
 Elizabeth slowly raised her face, across which a 
 momentary expression of sadness stole ; but as she 
 left her seat, her dark eyes lighted with their usual 
 fire, her cheek flushed to burning, and her whole 
 air seemed to belong to another nature. 
 
 "I forgive you, Edwards, and my father will 
 forgive you," she said, when she reached the door. 
 " You do not know us, but the time may come, 
 when your opinions shall change" 
 
 " Of you ! never !" interrupted the youth : 
 
 U J 
 
 " I would speak, sir, and not listen. There is 
 something in this affair that I do not yet compre 
 hend; but tell the Leather-stocking te has friends 
 as well as judges in us. Do not let the ld man ex 
 perience unnecessary uneasiness at this rupture. It 
 is impossible that you could increase his claims 
 here ; neither shall they be diminished by any 
 thing you have said. Mr. Edwards, I wish you 
 happiness, and warmer friends." 
 
 The youth would have spoken, but she vanished 
 from the door so rapidly, that when he reached 
 the hall her light form was no where to be seen. 
 He paused a moment, in a stupor, and then, rush 
 ing from the house, instead of following Marma 
 duke to his " office," he took his way directly for 
 the cabin of the hunters. 
 
CHAPTER XXXII. 
 
 " Who measured earth, described the starry spheres, 
 And traced the long records of lunar years." 
 
 Pope 
 
 RICHARD did not return from the exercise of his 
 official duties, until late in the evening of the fol 
 lowing day. It had been one portion of his busi 
 ness to superintend the arrest of part of a gang of 
 counterfeiters, that had, even at that early period, 
 buried themselves in the woods, to manufacture 
 their base coin, which they afterward circulated 
 from one end of the Union to the other. The ex 
 pedition had been completely successful, and about 
 midnight the Sheriff entered the village, at the 
 head of a posse of deputies and constables, in the 
 centre of whom rode, pinioned, four of the male 
 factors. At the gate of the Mansion-house they 
 separated, Mr. Jones directing his assistants to pro 
 ceed with their charge to the county-jail, while he 
 pursued his own way up the gravelled walk, with 
 that kind of self-satisfaction that a man of his or 
 ganization would feel, who had, really, for once, 
 done a very clever thing. 
 
 " Holla ! Aggy !" shouted the Sheriff, when he 
 
 reached the door; " where are you, you black 
 
 dog ? will you keep me here in the dark all night ? 
 
 Holla ! Aggy Brave ! Brave ! hoy, hoy where 
 
 39* 
 
462 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 have you got to, Brave ? Off his watch ! Every 
 body is asleep but myself! poor I must keep my 
 eyes open, that others may sleep in safety. Brave ! 
 Brave ! Well, I will say this for the dog, lazy aa 
 he s grown, that it is the first time I ever knew 
 him let any one come to the door after dark, with 
 out having a smell to know whether it was an ho 
 nest man or not. He could tell by his nose, al 
 most as well as I could myself by looking at them. 
 Holla ! you Agamemnon ! where are you ? Oh ! 
 here comes the dog at last." 
 
 By this time the Sheriff had dismounted, and ob 
 served a form, which he supposed to be that of 
 Brave, slowly creeping out of the kennel ; when, 
 to his astonishment, it reared itself on two legs in 
 stead of four, and he was able to distinguish, by 
 the star-light, the curly head and dark visage of 
 the negro. 
 
 " Ha ! what the devil are you doing there, you 
 black rascal ?" he cried ; " is it not hot enough for 
 your Guinea blood in the house, this warm night, 
 but you must drive out the poor dog and sleep in 
 his straw ?" 
 
 By this time the boy was quite awake, and, with 
 a blubbering whine, he attempted to reply to his 
 master. 
 
 " Oh ! masser Richard ! masser Richard ! such 
 a ting ! such a ting ! I neber tink a could appen 
 neber tink he die ! Oh, Lor-a-gor ! an t bury 
 keep em till masser Richard get back got a grabe 
 dug" 
 
 Here the feelings of the negro completely got the 
 mastery, and instead of making any intelligible ex 
 planation of the causes of his grief, he blubbered 
 aloud. 
 
 " Eh ! what ! buried ! grave ! dead !" exclaim 
 ed Richard, with a tremour in his voice ; " nothing 
 
THE PIONEERS. 463 
 
 serious ? Nothing has happened to Benjamin, 1 
 hope ? I know he has been bilious ; but I gave 
 him" 
 
 " Oh ! worser an a dat ! worser an a dat !" 
 sobbed the negro. " Oh ! de Lor ! Miss Lizzy 
 an a Miss Grant walk mountain poor Bravy ! 
 kill a lady painter Oh ! Lor, Lor ! Natty 
 Bumppo tear he troat all open come a see, mas- 
 ser Richard such a booful copse here he be 
 here he be." 
 
 As all this was perfectly inexplicable to the 
 Sheriff, he was very glad to wait patiently until 
 the black brought a lantern from the kitchen, when 
 he followed Aggy to the kennel, where he beheld 
 poor Brave, indeed, lying in his blood, stiff and 
 cold, but decently covered with the great-coat of 
 the negro. He was on the point of demanding an 
 explanation ; but the grief of the black, who had 
 fallen asleep on his voluntary watch, having burst 
 out afresh on his waking, utterly disqualified the 
 lad from giving one. Luckily, at this moment the 
 principal door of the house opened, and the coarse 
 features of Benjamin were thrust over the thresh 
 old, with a candle elevated above them, shedding 
 its dim rays around in such a manner as to exhibit 
 the lights and shadows of his countenance. Ri 
 chard threw his bridle to the black, and bidding 
 him look to the horse, he entered the hall. 
 
 u What is the meaning of the dead dog ?" he 
 cried. " Where is Miss Temple ?" 
 
 Benjamin made one of his square gestures, with 
 the thumb of his left hand pointing over his right 
 shoulder, as he answered 
 
 " Turned in." 
 . " Judge Temple where is h ?" 
 
 " In his birth." 
 
464 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 " But explain ; why is Brave dead ? and what 
 is the cause of Aggy s grief?" 
 
 " Why, it s all down, Squire," said Benjamin, 
 pointing to a slate that lay on the table, by the side 
 of a mug of toddy, a short pipe, in which the to 
 bacco was yet burning, and a Prayer-book. 
 
 Among the other pursuits of Richard, it was a 
 passion to keep a register of all passing events ; 
 and his diary, which was written in the manner of 
 a journal, or log-book, embraced not only such cir 
 cumstances as affected himself, but observations on 
 the weather, and all the occurrences of the family, 
 and frequently of the village. Since his appoint 
 ment to the office of Sheriff, and his consequent 
 absences from home, he had employed Benjamin 
 to make memoranda, on a slate, of whatever might 
 be thought worth remembering, which, on his re 
 turn, were regularly transferred to the journal, 
 with proper notations of the time, manner, and 
 other little particulars. There was, to be sure, 
 one material objection to the clerkship of Benja 
 min, which the ingenuity of no one but Richard 
 could have overcome. The steward read nothing 
 but his Prayer-book, and that only in particular 
 parts, and by the aid of a good deal of spelling, and 
 some misnomers ; but he could not form a single 
 letter with a pen. This would have been an in 
 superable bar to journalizing, with most men ; but 
 Richard invented a kind of hieroglyph ical charac 
 ter, which was intended to note all the ordinary 
 occurrences of a day, such as how the wind blew, 
 whether the sun shone, or whether it rained, the 
 hours, &c. ; and for the extraordinary, after giving 
 certain elementary lectures on the subject, the 
 Sheriff was obliged to trust to the ingenuity of the 
 Major-domo, The reader will at once perceive 
 
THE PIONEERS. 465 
 
 that it was to this chronicle that Benjamin pointed, 
 instead of directly answering the Sheriff s interro 
 gatory. 
 
 When Mr. Jones had drunk a glass of the toddy, 
 he brought forth, from its secret place, his proper 
 journal, and, seating himself by the table, he pre 
 pared to tranfer the contents of the slate to the pa 
 per, at the same time that he appeased his curiosi 
 ty. Benjamin laid one hand on the back of the 
 Sheriff s chair, in a familiar manner, while he kept 
 the other at liberty, to make use of a fore-finger, 
 that was bent like some of his own characters, as 
 an index to point out his meaning. 
 
 The first thing referred to by the Sheriff was the 
 diagram of a compass, that was cut in one corner of 
 the slate for permanent use. The cardinal points 
 were plainly marked on it, and all the usual divi 
 sions were indicated in such a manner, that no man 
 who had ever steered a ship could mistake them. 
 
 " Oh !" said the Sheriff, settling himself down 
 comfortably in his chair " you d the wind south 
 east, I see, all last night ; I thought it would have 
 blown up rain." 
 
 " Devil the drop, sir," said Benjamin ; " I be 
 lieve that the scuttle-butt up aloft is emptied, for 
 there hasn t so much water fell in the county, for 
 the last three weeks, as would float Indian John s 
 canoe, and that draws just one inch nothing, light." 
 
 " Well, but didn t the wind change here this 
 morning ? there was a change where I was." 
 
 " To be sure it did, Squire ; and haven t I log 
 ged it as a shift of mind." 
 
 " I don t see where, Benjamin ; I " 
 
 " Don t see !" interrupted the steward, a little 
 ciustily; " an t there a mark ag in east-and-by- 
 nothe-half-nothe, with sum mat like a rising sun at 
 the end of it, to show twas in the morning watch ?" 
 
466 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 " Yes, yes, that is very legible ; but where is the 
 change noted ?" 
 
 " Where ! why doesn t it see this here tea-ket- 
 ile, with a mark run from the spout straight, or 
 mayhap a little crooked or so, into west-and-by- 
 southe-half-southe ? now I calls this a shift of wind, 
 Squire. Well, do you see this here boar s head 
 that you made for me, along side of the com 
 pass " 
 
 " Ay, ay Boreas I see. Why you ve drawn 
 lines from its mouth, extending from one of your 
 marks to the other." 
 
 " It s no fault of mine, Squire Dickens ; tis your 
 d d climate. The wind has been at all them there 
 marks this very day ; and that s all round the com 
 pass, except a little matter of an Irishman s hurri 
 cane at meridium, which you ll find marked right 
 up and down. Now, I ve known a sow-wester 
 blow for three weeks, in the Channel, with a clean 
 drizzle, in which you might wash your face and 
 hands, without the trouble of hauling in w r ater from 
 along side." 
 
 " Very well, Benjamin," said the Sheriff, writing 
 in his journal ; " I believe I have caught the idea. 
 Oh ! here s a cloud over the rising sun ; so you 
 had it hazy in the morning ?" 
 
 " Ay, ay, sir," said Benjamin. 
 
 " Ah ! it s Sunday, and here are the marks for 
 the length of the sermon one, two, three, four 
 What ! did Mr. Grant preach forty minutes ?" 
 
 " Ay, sum mat like it ; it was a good half-hour by 
 my own glass, and then there was the time lost in 
 turning it, and some little allowance for leeway in 
 not being over smart about it." 
 
 " But, Benjamin, this is as long as a Presbyteri 
 an sermon ; you never could have been ten minutes 
 in turning the glass !" 
 
THE PIONEERS. 467 
 
 Why, do you see, Squire, the parson was very 
 solemn, and 1 just closed my eyes in order to think 
 the better with myself, just the same as you d put 
 in the dead-lights to make all snug, and when I 
 opened them ag in I found the congregation were 
 getting under weigh for home, so I calculated the 
 ten minutes would cover the lee-way after the 
 glass was out. It was only some such matter as a 
 cat s nap." 
 
 " Oh, ho ! master Benjamin, you were asleep, 
 were you ! but I ll set down no such slander against 
 an orthodox divine." Richard wrote twenty-nine 
 minutes in his journal, and continued " Why, 
 what s this you ve got opposite ten o clock, A. M. ? 
 a full moon ! had you a moon visible by day ! I 
 have heard of such portents before now, but eh ! 
 what s this along side of it ? an hour-glass ?" 
 
 " That !" said Benjamin, looking coolly over the 
 Sheriff s shoulder, and rolling the tobacco about in 
 his mouth with a jocular air ; " why, that s a small 
 matter of my own. It s no moon, Squire, but only 
 Betty Hollister s face ; for, d ye see, sir, hearing 
 all the same as if she had got up a new cargo of 
 Jamaiky from the river, I called in as I was going 
 to the church this morning ten A. M. was it ? 
 just the time and tried a glass ; and so I logged it, 
 to put me in mind of calling to pay her like an 
 honest man." 
 
 " That was it, was it ?" said the Sheriff, with 
 some displeasure at this innovation on his memo 
 randa ; " and could you not make a better glass 
 than this ? it looks like a death s head and an hour 
 glass." 
 
 " Why, as I liked the stuff, Squire," returned 
 the steward, " I turned in, homeward bound, and 
 took t other glass, which I set down at the bottom 
 of the first, and that gives the thing the shape it 
 
468 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 has. But as I was there ag in to-night, and paid 
 for the three at once, your honour may as well run 
 the sponge over the whole business." 
 
 " I will buy you a slate for your own affairs, 
 Benjamin," said the Sheriff; "for I don t like to 
 have the journal marked over in this manner." 
 
 " You needn t you needn t, Squire ; for, see 
 ing that I was likely to trade often with the wo 
 man while this barrel lasted, I ve opened a fair ac 
 count with Betty, and she keeps her marks on the 
 back of her bar door, and I keeps the tally on this 
 here bit of a stick." 
 
 As Benjamin concluded he produced a piece of 
 wood, on which five very honest, large notches 
 were apparent. The Sheriff cast his eyes on this 
 new ledger, for a moment, and continued 
 
 " What have we here ! Saturday, two P. M. 
 why here s a whole family piece ! two wine glasses 
 up-side-down !" 
 
 " That s two women ; the one this a-way is Miss 
 Lizzy, and t other is the parson s young un." 
 
 " Cousin Bess and Miss Grant !" exclaimed the 
 Sheriff, in amazement ; " why, what have they to 
 do with my journal ?" 
 
 " They d enough to do to get out of the jaws of 
 that there painter, or panther," said the immovea- 
 ble steward. " This here thingum y, Squire, that 
 maybe looks sum mat like a rat, is the beast, d ye 
 see ; and this here t other thing, keel uppermost, 
 is poor old Brave, who died nobly, all the same as 
 an admiral fighting for his king and country ; and 
 that there " 
 
 " Scarecrow," interrupted Richard. 
 
 " Ay, mayhap it do look a little wild or so," con 
 tinued the steward ; " but to my judgment, Squire, 
 it s the best imager I ve made, seeing it s most like 
 the man himself ; -well, that s Natty Bumppo y 
 
I 
 
 THE PIONEERS. 469 
 
 who shot this here painter, that killed that there 
 dog, who would have eaten or done worse to them 
 here young ladies." 
 
 " And what the devil does all this mean ?" cried 
 Richard, impatiently. 
 
 "Mean!" echoed Benjamin; "it s as true as 
 the Boadishey s log-book" 
 
 He was interrupted by the sheriff, who put a few 
 direct questions to him, that obtained more intelli 
 gible answers, by which means he became possess 
 ed of a tolerably correct idea of the truth. When 
 the wonder, and, we must do Richard the justice 
 to say, the feelings also, that were created by this 
 narrative, had in some degree subsided, the She 
 riff turned his eyes again on his journal, where 
 more inexplicable hieroglyphics met his view. 
 
 " What have we here !" he cried ; " two men 
 boxing ! has there been a breach of the peace ? ah ! 
 that s the way, the moment my back is turned " 
 
 " That s the Judge and young Master Edwards," 
 interrupted the steward, very cavalierly. 
 
 " How ! duke fighting with Oliver ! what the 
 devil has got into you all ? more things have hap 
 pened within the last thirty-six hours than in the 
 preceding six months." 
 
 " Yes, it s so indeed, Squire," returned the 
 steward ; " I ve known a smart chase, and a fight 
 at the tail of it, where less has been logged than 
 I ve got on that there slate. Howsomnever, they 
 didn t come to facers, only passed a little jaw fore 
 and aft." 
 
 " Explain ! explain !" cried Richard " it was 
 about the mines, ha ! ay, ay, I see it, I see it ; 
 here is a man, with a pick on his shoulder. So 
 you heard it all, Benjamin ?" 
 
 ." Why, yes, it was about their minds, I believe, 
 Squire," returned the steward ; " and by what I 
 40 
 
470 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 can learn, they spoke them pretty plainly to one 
 another. Indeed I may say that I overheard a 
 small matter of it myself, seeing that the windows 
 was open, and I hard by. But this here is no pick, 
 but an anchor on a man s shoulder; and here s the 
 other fluke down his back, maybe a little too close, 
 which signifies that the lad has got under way and 
 left his moorings." 
 
 " Has Edwards left the house ?" demanded Ri 
 chard, peremptorily. 
 
 " He has," said the steward. 
 
 Richard pursued this advantage, and, after a 
 long and close examination, he succeeded in get 
 ting out of Benjamin all that he knew, not only 
 concerning the misunderstanding, but of the at 
 tempt to search the hut, and Hiram s discomfiture. 
 The Sheriff was no sooner possessed of these facts, 
 which Benjamin related with all possible tender 
 ness to the Leather-stocking, than, snatching up his 
 hat, and bidding the astonished steward to secure 
 the doors and go to his bed, he left the house. 
 
 For at least five minutes after Richard disap 
 peared, Benjamin stood with his arms a-kimbo, and 
 his eyes fastened on the door ; when, having col 
 lected his astonished faculties, he prepared to ex 
 ecute the orders he had received. 
 
 It has been already said that the " court of com 
 mon pleas and general sessions of the peace," or, 
 as it is commonly called, the " county court," over 
 which Judge Temple presided, held one of its 
 stated sessions on the following morning. The at 
 tendants of Richard were officers who had come 
 to the village as much to discharge their usual du 
 ties at this court, as to escort the prisoners ; and 
 the Sheriff knew their habits too well, not to feel 
 confident he should find most, if not all of them in 
 the public room of the jail, discussing the qualities 
 
THE PIONEERS. 471 
 
 of the keeper s liquors. Accordingly he held his 
 way through the silent streets of the village, direct 
 ly to the small and insecure building, that contain 
 ed all the unfortunate debtors, and some of the cri 
 minals of the county, and where justice was ad 
 ministered to such unwary applicants as were so 
 silly as to throw away two dollars, in order to ob 
 tain one from their neighbours. The arrival of 
 four malefactors in the custody of a dozen officers, 
 was an event, at that day, in Templeton ; and 
 when the Sheriff reached the jail, he found every 
 indication that his subordinates intended to make a 
 night of it. 
 
 The nod of the Sheriff brought two of his depu 
 ties to the door, who in their turn drew off six or 
 seven of the constables. With this force Richard 
 led the way through the village, towards the bank 
 of the lake, undisturbed by any noise, except the 
 barking of one or two curs, who were alarmed by 
 the measured tread of the party, and by the low 
 murmurs that run through their own numbers, as 
 a few cautious questions and answers were ex 
 changed, relative to the object of their expedition. 
 When they had crossed the little bridge of hewn 
 logs that was thrown over the Susquehanna, they 
 left the highway, and struck into that field which 
 had been the scene of the victory over the pigeons. 
 From this they followed their leader into the low 
 bushes of pines and chestnuts which had sprung 
 up along the shores of the lake, where the plough 
 had not succeeded the fall of the trees, and soon 
 entered the deep forest itself. Here Richard paus 
 ed, and collected his troop around him. 
 
 " I have required your assistance, my friends," 
 he said, in a low voice, " in order to arrest Na 
 thaniel Bumppo, commonly called the Leather 
 stocking. He has assaulted a magistrate, and re 
 
472 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 sisted the execution of a search-warrant, by threat 
 ening the life of a constable with his rifle. In 
 short, my friends, he has set an example of rebel 
 lion to the laws, and has become a kind of out-law. 
 He is suspected of other misdemeanors and offences 
 against private rights ; and I have this night taken 
 on myself, by the virtue of my office of Sheriff, to 
 arrest the said Bumppo, and bring him to the coun 
 ty jail, that he may be present and forthcoming to 
 answer to tnese heavy charges before the court to 
 morrow morning. In executing this duty, my 
 friends and fellow-citizens, you are to use courage 
 and discretion. Courage, that you may not be 
 daunted by any lawless attempts that this man may 
 make with his rifle and his dogs, to oppose you ; 
 and discretion, which here means caution and pru 
 dence, that he may not escape from this sudden at 
 tack and, for other good reasons that I need not 
 mention. You will form yourselves in a complete 
 circle around his hut, and at the word c advance, 
 called aloud by me, you will rush forward, and, 
 without giving the criminal time for deliberation, 
 enter his dwelling by force, and make him your 
 prisoner. Spread yourselves for this purpose, 
 while I shall descend to the shore with a deputy, 
 to take charge of that point ; and all communica 
 tions must be made directly to me, under the bank 
 in front of the hut, where I shall station myself, 
 and remain in order to receive them." 
 
 This speech, which Richard had been studying 
 during his walk, had the effect that all similar per 
 formances produce, of bringing the dangers of the 
 expedition immediately before the eyes of his forces. 
 The men divided, some plunging deeper into the 
 forest, in order to gain thei* stations without giving 
 an alarm, and others continuing to advance, at a 
 gait that would allow the whole party to get in or- 
 
THE PIONEERS. 473 
 
 der ; but all devising the best plans to repulse the 
 attack of a dog, or escape a rifle-bullet. It was a 
 moment of dread expectation and interest. 
 
 When the Sheriff thought time enough had 
 elapsed for the different divisions of his force to ar 
 rive at their stations, he raised his voice m the 
 silence of the forest, and shouted the watch-word. 
 The sounds played among the arched branches of 
 the trees in hollow cadences ; but when the last 
 sinking tone was lost on the ear, in place of the 
 expected howls of the dogs, no other noises were 
 returned but the crackling of torn branches and 
 dried sticks, as they yielded before the advancing 
 steps of the officers. Even this soon ceased, as if 
 by a common consent, when the curiosity and im 
 patience of the Sheriff getting the complete ascen 
 dency over his discretion, he rushed up the bank, 
 and in a moment stood on the little piece of cleared 
 ground in front of the spot where Natty had so long 
 lived. To his utter amazement, in place of the 
 hut, he saw only its smouldering ruins ! 
 
 The party gradually drew together about the heap 
 of ashes and ends of smoking logs, while a dim flame 
 in the centre of the ruin, which still found fuel to 
 feed its lingering life, threw its pale light, flickering 
 with the passing currents of the air, around the 
 circle, now showing a face with eyes fixed in 
 astonishment, and then glancing to another counte 
 nance, leaving the former shaded in the obscurity 
 of night. Not a voice was raised in inquiry, nor 
 an exclamation made in astonishment. The transi 
 tion from excitement to disappointment was too 
 powerful in its effects for speech, and even Richard 
 lost the use of an organ that was seldom known to 
 fail him. 
 
 The whole group were yet in the fulness of 
 their surprise, when a tall form stalked from the 
 40* 
 
474 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 gloom into the circle, treading down the hot ashe^ 
 and dying embers, with callous feet, and, standing 
 over the light, lifted his cap, and exposed the bare 
 head and weather-beaten features of the Leather- 
 stocking. For a moment he gazed at the dusky 
 figures who surrounded him, more in sorrow than 
 in anger, before he spoke. 
 
 " What would ye have with an old and helpless 
 man ?" he said. " You ve driven God s creaters from 
 the wilderness, where his providence had put them 
 for his own pleasure, and you ve brought in the 
 troubles and divilties of the law, where no man was 
 ever known to disturb another. You have driven 
 me, tbat have lived forty long years of my appoint 
 ed time in this very spot, from my home and the 
 shelter of my head, lest you should put your wick 
 ed feet and wasty ways in my cabin. You ve driven 
 me to burn these logs, under which I ve eaten and 
 drunk, the first of Heaven s gifts, and the other of 
 the pure springs, for the half of a hundred years, 
 and to mourn the ashes under my feet, as a man 
 would weep and mourn for the children of his body. 
 You ve rankled the heart of an old man, that has 
 never harmed you or your n, with bitter feelings 
 towards his kind, at a time when his thoughts 
 should be on a better world ; and you ve driven 
 him to wish that the beasts of the forest, who never 
 feast on the blood of their own families, was his 
 kindred and race ; and now, when he has come to 
 see the last brand of his hut, before it is melted 
 into ashes, you follow him ur^, at midnight, like 
 hungry hounds on the track of a worn-out and dy 
 ing deer ! What more would ye have ? for I am 
 here one to many. I come to mourn, not to fight 
 and, if it is God s pleasure, work your will on me." 
 
 When the old man ended, he stood, with the 
 light glimmering around his thinly-covered head, 
 
THE PIONEERS. 475 
 
 coking earnestly at the group, which receded 
 from the pile, with an instinctive and involuntary 
 movement, without the reach of the quivering rays, 
 leaving a free passage for his retreat into the bush 
 es, where pursuit, in the dark, would have been 
 fruitless. Natty seemed not to regard this advan 
 tage, but stood facing each individual in the circle, 
 in succession, as if to see who would be the first 
 to arrest him. After a pause of a few moments, 
 Richard began to rally his confused faculties, and 
 advancing, apologized for his duty, and made him 
 his prisoner. The party now collected, and, pre 
 ceded by the. Sheriff, with Natty in their centre, 
 they took their way towards the village. 
 
 During the walk, divers questions were put to 
 the prisoner concerning his reasons for burning the 
 hut, and whither Mohegan had retreated, but to all 
 of them he observed a profound silence, until, fa 
 tigued with their previous duties, and the lateness 
 of the hour, the Sheriff and his followers reached 
 the village, and dispersed to their several places of 
 rest, after turning the key of a jail on the aged and 
 apparently friendless Leather-stocking. 
 
CHAPTEE XXXIII. 
 
 u Fetch here the stocks, ho ! 
 
 You stubborn ancient knave, you raverend braggart 
 
 We ll teach you." 
 
 Lear 
 
 THE long days and early sun of July allowed 
 time for a gathering of the interested, before the 
 little bell of the academy announced that the ap 
 pointed hour had arrived for administering right to 
 the wronged, and punishment to the guilty. Ever 
 since the dawn of day, the highways and wood- 
 paths that, issuing from the forests, and winding 
 along the sides of the mountains, centered in Tem- 
 pleton, had been thronged with equestrians and 
 footmen, bound to the haven of justice. There 
 was to be seen a well-clad yeoman, mounted on a 
 sleek, switch-tailed steed, ambling along the high 
 way, with his red face elevated in a manner that 
 said, " I have paid for my land, and fear no man," 
 while his bosom was swelling with the conscious 
 pride of being one of the grand inquest for the 
 county. At his side rode a companion, his equal 
 in independence of feeling, perhaps, but his infe 
 rior in thrift, as in property and consideration. 
 This was a professed dealer in lawsuits a man 
 whose name appeared in every calendar ; whose 
 substance, gained in the multifarious expedients 
 of a settler s changeable habits, was wasted in feed- 
 
THE PIONEERS. 477 
 
 ing the harpies of the courts. He was endeavour 
 ing to impress the mind of the grand juror with the 
 merits of a cause that was now at issue. Along 
 with these two was a pedestrian, who, having 
 thrown a rifle frock over his shirt, and placed his 
 best wool hat above his sunburnt visage, had is 
 sued from his retreat in the woods by a footpath, 
 and was striving to keep company with the others, 
 at an unequal gait, on his way to hear and to de 
 cide the disputes of his neighbours as a petit juror. 
 
 By ten o clock the streets of the village were 
 filled with groups of men with busy faces, some 
 talking of their private concerns, some listening to 
 a popular expounder of political reeds, and others 
 gaping in at the open stores, admiring the finery, 
 or examining sithes, axes, and such other manu 
 factures as attracted their curiosity or excited their 
 admiration. A few women were to be observed 
 in the crowd, mostly carrying infants in their arms, 
 and followed, at a lounging, listless gait, by their 
 rustic lords and masters. There was one young 
 couple, in whom the warmth of connubial love was 
 yet new, walking among the moving throng, both 
 dressed in their back-wood finery, at a respectful 
 distance from each other, while the swain directed 
 the timid steps of his bride by the unbending mo 
 tions of an extended arm, to which she was ap 
 pended by grasping his thumb. 
 
 At the first stroke of the bell, Richard issued 
 from the front door of the " Bold Dragoon," flou 
 rishing in his hand a sheathed sword, that he was 
 fond of saying his ancestors had carried in one of 
 Cromwell s victories, and crying, in an authorita 
 tive tone, to "clear the way for the court." The 
 order was obeyed promptly, though not servilely , 
 the members of the crowd nodding familiarly to the 
 members of the procession, as it passed. A party 
 
478 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 of constables with their staves followed the Sheriff, 
 preceding Marmaduke, and four plain, grave-look 
 ing yeomen, who were his associates on the bench. 
 There was nothing to distinguish these subordinate 
 judges from the better part of the spectators, ex 
 cept gravity, which they affected a little more than 
 common, and that one of their number was attired 
 in an old-fashioned military coat, with skirts that 
 reached no lower than the middle of his thighs, and 
 bearing two little silver epaulettes, not half so big 
 as a modern pair of shoulder knots. This gentle 
 man was a colonel of the militia, in attendance on 
 a court-martial, who found leisure to steal a mo 
 ment from his military to attend to his civil juris 
 diction. But this incongruity was nothing ; it ex 
 cited neither notice nor comment. Three or four 
 clean-shaved lawyers followed, as meekly as if 
 they were lambs going to the slaughter, one or 
 two of whom had contrived to obtain an air of scho 
 lastic gravity, by wearing spectacles. The rear 
 was brought up by another posse of constables, and 
 the mob followed the whole into the room where 
 the court held its sittings. 
 
 The edifice was composed of a basement of 
 squared logs, perforated here and there with small 
 grated windows, through which a few wistful faces 
 were gazing at the crowd without, among which 
 were the guilty, downcast countenances of the 
 counterfeiters, and the. simple but honest features 
 of the Leather-stocking. The dungeons were to 
 be distinguished, externally, from the debtors 
 apartments, only by the size of the apertures, the 
 thickness of the grates, and by the heads of spikes 
 that were driven into the logs as a protection 
 against the illegal use of edge-tools. The upper 
 story was of frame-work, regularly covered with 
 boards, and contained one room decently fitted up 
 
THE PIONEERS. 479 
 
 for the purposes of justice. A bench ran along 
 one of its sides, and was raised on a narrow plat 
 form to the height of a man above the floor, and 
 was protected in front by a light railing. In ^ie 
 centre was a seat, furnished with rude arms, ma t 
 was always filled by the presiding judge. In front, 
 on a level with the floor of the room, was a large 
 table covered with green baize, and surrounded by 
 benches ; and at either of its ends were placed 
 rows of seats rising one over the other, for jury 
 boxes. Each of these several divisions was sur 
 rounded by a railing. The remainder of the room 
 was an open space appropriated to the spectators. 
 
 When the judges were seated, the lawyers had 
 taken possession of the table, and the noise of 
 moving feet had ceased in the area, the proclama 
 tions were made in the usual form, the jurors were 
 sworn, the charge was given, and the court pro 
 ceeded to hear the business before them. 
 
 We shall not detain the reader with a descrip 
 tion of the captious discussions that occupied t.L/e 
 court for the first two hours. Judge Temple had 
 impressed on the jury, in his charge, the necessity 
 for despatch on their part, recommending to their 
 notice, from motives of humanity, the prisoners in 
 the jail, as the first objects of their attention. Ac 
 cordingly, after the period we have mentioned had 
 elapsed, the cry of the officer to " clear the w T ay 
 for the grand jury," announced the entrance of that 
 body. The usual forms were observed, when the 
 foreman handed up to the bench two bills, on both 
 of which the Judge observed, at the first glance of 
 his eye, the name of Nathaniel Bumppo. It was 
 a leisure moment with the court ; some low whis 
 pering passed between the bench and the Sheriff, 
 who gave a signal to his officers, and in a very few 
 irjnutes the silence that prevailed there was inter- 
 
480 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 rupted by a general movement in the outer crowd; 
 when presently the Leather-stocking made his ap 
 pearance, ushered into the criminal s bar under the 
 cu^>dy of two constables. The hum ceased, the 
 p eqile closed into the open space again, and the 
 silence soon became so deep, that the hard breath 
 ing of the prisoner was audible. 
 
 Natty was dressed in his buck-skin garments, 
 without his coat, in place of which he wore only a 
 shirt of coarse linen-check, fastened at his throat 
 by the sinew of a deer, leaving his red neck and 
 weather-beaten face exposed and bare. It was the 
 first time that he had ever crossed the threshold of 
 a court of justice, and curiosity seemed to be strong 
 ly blended with his personal feelings. He raised 
 his eyes to the bench, thence to the jury-boxes, the 
 bar, and the crowd without, meeting every where 
 looks that were fastened on himself. After sur 
 veying his own person, as if in search of the cause 
 of this unusual attraction, he once more turned his 
 face around the assemblage, and then opened his 
 mouth in one of his silent and remarkable laughs. 
 
 " Prisoner, remove your cap," said Judge Tem 
 ple. 
 
 The order was either unheard or unheeded. 
 
 " Nathaniel Bumppo, be uncovered," repeated 
 the Judge. 
 
 " Natty started at the sound of his name, and 
 raising his face earnestly towards the bench, he 
 said 
 
 " Anan !" 
 
 Mr. Lippet arose from his seat at the table, and 
 whispered in the ear of the prisoner, when Natty 
 gave him a nod of assent, and took the deer-skin 
 covering from his head. 
 
 " Mr. District Attorney," said the Judge, " th. 
 prisoner is ready ; we wait for the indictment." 
 
THE PIONEERS. 481 
 
 The duties of the public prosecutor were dis 
 charged by Dirck Van der School, who adjusted 
 his spectacles, cast a cautious look around him at 
 his brethren of the bar, which he ended by throw 
 ing his head aside so as to catch one glance over 
 the glasses, when he proceeded to read the bill 
 aloud. It was the usual charge for an assault and 
 battery on the person of Hiram Doolittle, and was 
 couched in the ancient language of such instru 
 ments, especial care having been taken by the 
 scribe not to omit the name of a single offensive 
 weapon known to the law. When he had done, 
 Mr. Van der School removed his spectacles, which 
 he closed and placed in his pocket, seemingly for 
 the pleasure of again opening and replacing them 
 on his nobe. After this evolution was repeated 
 once or twice, he handed the bill over to Mr. Lip- 
 pet, with a cavalier air, that said as much as " pick 
 a hole in that if you can." 
 
 Natty listened to the charge against him with 
 great attention, leaning forward towards the reader 
 with an earnestness that denoted his interest ; and 
 when it was ended, he raised his tall body to the 
 utmost, and drew a long sigh. All eyes were turn 
 ed to the prisoner, whose voice was vainly expect 
 ed to break the stillness of the room. 
 
 " You have heard the presentment that the 
 grand jury have made, Nathaniel Bumppo," said 
 the Judge ; <c what do you plead to the charge ?" 
 
 The old man dropped his head for a moment in 
 a reflecting attitude, and then raising it, he laughed 
 again before he answered 
 
 " That I handled the man a little rough or so, is 
 
 not to be denied ; but that there was occasion to 
 
 make use of all them things that the gentleman has 
 
 spoken of, is downright untrue I am not much 
 
 41 
 
482 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 of a wrestler, seeing that I m getting old ; but ] 
 was out among the Scotch-Irishers lets me see 
 it must have been as long ago as the first year of 
 the old war" 
 
 " Mr. Lippet, if you are retained for the prison 
 er," interrupted Judge Temple, " instruct your 
 client how to plead ; if not, the court shall assign 
 him counsel." 
 
 Aroused from studying the indictment by this 
 appeal, the attorney got up, and after a short dia 
 logue with the hunter in a low voice, he informed 
 the court that they were ready to proceed. 
 
 " Do you plead guilty or not guilty ?" said the 
 Judge. 
 
 " I may say not guilty with a clean conscience," 
 returned Natty; "for there s no guilt in doing 
 what s right; and I d rather died on the spot, than 
 had him put foot in the hut at that moment." 
 
 Richard started at this declaration, and bent his 
 eyes significantly on Hiram, who returned the look 
 with a slight movement of his eyebrows alone. 
 
 " Proceed to open the cause, Mr. District At 
 torney," continued the Judge. " Mr. Clerk, enter 
 the plea of not guilty." 
 
 After a short opening address from Mr. Van 
 der School, Hiram was summoned to the bar to 
 give his testimony. It was delivered to the letter, 
 perhaps, but with all that moral colouring which 
 can be conveyed under such expressions as, " think 
 ing no harm," " feeling it my bounded duty as a 
 magistrate, 7 and " seeing that the constable was 
 back ard in the business." When he had done, 
 and the District Attorney declined putting any fur 
 ther interrogatories, Mr. Lippet arose, with an air 
 of keen investigation, and asked the following ques 
 tions : 
 
THE PIONEERS. 483 
 
 " Are you a constable of this county, sir ?" 
 
 " No, sir," said Hiram, " I m only a justice- 
 peace." 
 
 " I ask you, Mr. Doolittle, in the face of this 
 court, putting it to your conscience and your know 
 ledge of the law, whether you had any right to en 
 ter that man s dwelling . ? " 
 
 " Hem !" said Hiram, undergoing a violent strug- 
 ;le between his desire for vengeance and his love 
 
 r legal fame ; " I do suppose that in that is 
 strict law that supposing maybe I hadn t a real 
 lawful right ; but as fhe case was and Billy 
 was so back ard I might come for ard in the busi 
 ness." 
 
 " I ask you again, sir," continued the lawyer, 
 following up his success, " whether this old, this 
 friendless old man, did or did not repeatedly forbid 
 your entrance ?" 
 
 " Why, I must say," said Hiram, " that he was 
 considerable cross-grained ; not what I call clever, 
 seeing that it was only one neighbour wanting to 
 go into the house of another." 
 
 " Oh ! then you own it was only meant foi a 
 neighbourly visit on your part, and without the 
 sanction of law. Remember, gentlemen, the 
 words of the witness, c one neighbour wanting to 
 enter the house of another. Now, sir, I ask you 
 if Nathaniel Bumppo did not again and again order 
 you not to enter ?" 
 
 " There was some words passed between us," 
 said Hiram, " but I read the warrant to him aloud." 
 
 " I repeat my question ; did he tell you not to 
 enter his habitation ?" 
 
 " There was a good deal passed betwixt us 
 but I ve the warrant in my pocket ; maybe the 
 court would wish to see it ?" 
 
 " Witness," said Judge Temple, " answer the 
 
484 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 question directly ; did or did not the prisoner forbid 
 jour entering his hut ?" 
 
 u Why, I some think" 
 
 " Answer without equivocation," continued the 
 Judge, sternly. 
 
 " He did." 
 
 " And did you attempt to enter after this order. " 
 
 " I did ; but the warrant was in my hand." 
 
 " Proceed, Mr. Lippet, with your examination." 
 
 But the attorney saw that the impression was in 
 favour of his client, and, waving his hand with a 
 supercilious manner, as if unwilling to insult the 
 understanding of the jury with any further defence, 
 he replied 
 
 " No, sir; I leave it for your honour to charge; 
 I rest my case here." 
 
 " Mr. District Attorney," said the Judge, " have 
 you any thing to say ?" 
 
 Mr. Van der School removed his spectacles, 
 folded them, and replacing them once more on his 
 nose, eyed the other bill which he held in his hand, 
 and then said, looking at the bar over the top of 
 his glasses 
 
 " I shall rest the prosecution here, if the court 
 please." 
 
 Judge Temple arose and began the charge. 
 
 " Gentlemen of the Jury," he said, " you have 
 heard the testimony, and I shall detain you but a 
 moment. If an officer meet with resistance in the 
 execution of a process, he has an undoubted right 
 to call any citizen to his assistance ; and the acts 
 of such assistant come within the protection of the 
 law. I shall leave you to judge, gentlemen, from 
 the testimony, how far the witness in this prosecu 
 tion can be so considered, feeling less reluctance 
 to submit the case thus informally to your decision 
 because there is yet another indictment to be tried. 
 
THE PIONEERS. 485 
 
 Which involves heavier charges against the unfor 
 tunate prisoner." 
 
 The tone of Marmaduke was mild and insinuat 
 ing, and as his sentiments were given with such ap 
 parent impartiality, they did not fail of carrying their 
 due weight to the jury. The grave-looking yeo 
 men, who composed this tribunal, laid their heads 
 together for a few minutes, without leaving their 
 box, when the foreman arose, and after the forms 
 of the court were duly observed, he pronounced 
 the prisoner to be 
 
 " Not guilty." 
 
 "You are acquitted of this charge, Nathaniel 
 Bumppo," said the Judge. 
 
 " Anan !" said Natty. 
 
 " You are found not guilty of striking and as 
 saulting Mr. Doolittle." 
 
 " No, no, I ll not deny but that I took him a lit 
 tle roughly by the shoulders," said Natty, looking 
 about him with great simplicity, " and that I " 
 
 " You are acquitted," interrupted the Judge ; 
 " and there is nothing further to be said or done in 
 the matter." 
 
 A look of joy lighted up the features of the old 
 man, who now comprehended the case, and, plac 
 ing his cap eagerly on his head again, he threw up 
 the bar of his little prison, and said feelingly 
 
 " I must say this for you, Judge Temple, that 
 the law has not been so hard on me as I dreaded, 
 I hope God will bless you for the kind things 
 you ve done to me this day." 
 
 But the staff of the constable was opposed to his 
 egress, and Mr. Lippet whispered a few worsts in 
 his ear, when the aged hunter sunk back into his 
 place, and, removing his cap, stroked down the 
 remnants of his gray and sandy locks, with an air 
 of mortification mingled with submission. 
 41* 
 
486 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 " Mr. District Attorney," said Judge Temple, 
 affecting to busy himself with his minutes, " pro 
 ceed with the second indictment." 
 
 Mr. Van der School took great care that no part 
 of the presentment, which he now read, should be 
 lost on his auditors. It accused the prisoner of re 
 sisting the execution of a search-warrant, by force 
 of arms, and particularized, in the vague language of 
 the law, among a variety of other weapons, the use 
 of the rifle. This was indeed a more serious charge 
 than an ordinary assault and battery, and a corre 
 sponding degree of interest was manifested by the 
 spectators in its result. The prisoner was duly ar 
 raigned, and his plea again demanded. Mr. Lippet 
 had anticipated the answers of Natty, and in a 
 whisper advised him how to plead. But the feel 
 ings of the old hunter were awakened by some of 
 the expressions of the indictment, and, forgetful of 
 his caution, he exclaimed 
 
 C1 ? Tis a wicked untruth ; I crave no man s blood. 
 Them thieves, the Iroquois, won t say it to my 
 face, that 1 ever thirsted after man s blood. I have 
 fought as a soldier that feared his Maker and his 
 officer, but I never pulled a trigger on any but a 
 warrior that was up and awake. No man can say 
 that I ever struck even a Mingo in his blanket. I 
 b lieve there s some who thinks there s no God in 
 a wilderness !" 
 
 " Attend to your plea, Bumppo," said the Judge; 
 " you hear that you are accused of using your rifle 
 against an officer of justice ; are you guilty or not 
 guilty ?" 
 
 By this time the irritated feelings of Natty had 
 found a vent ; and he rested on the bar for a mo 
 ment, in a musing posture, when he lifted his 
 face, with his silent laugh, and, pointing to where 
 the wood-chopper stood, he said 
 
THE PIONEERS. 487 
 
 * Would Billy Kirby be standing there, d ye 
 think, if I had used the rifle ?" 
 
 " Then you deny it," said Mr. Lippet ; " you 
 plead not guilty ?" 
 
 " Sartain," said Natty ; " Billy knows that I 
 never fired at all. Billy, do you remember the 
 turkey last winter ? ah ! me ! that was better than 
 common firing ; but I can t shoot as I used to 
 could." 
 
 " Enter the plea of not guilty," said Judge Tem 
 ple, strongly affected by the simplicity of the pri 
 soner. 
 
 Hiram was again sworn, and his testimony given 
 on the second charge. He had discovered his 
 former error, and proceeded more cautiously than 
 before. He related very distinctly, and, for the 
 man, with amazing terseness, the suspicion against 
 the hunter, the complaint, the issuing of the war 
 rant, and the swearing in of Kirby ; all of which, 
 he affirmed, were done in due form of law. He 
 then added the manner in which the constable had 
 been received ; and stated distinctly, that Natty 
 had pointed the rifle at Kirby, and threatened his 
 life, if he attempted to execute his duty. All this 
 was confirmed by Jotham, who was observed to 
 adhere closely to the story of the magistrate. Mr. 
 Lippet conducted an artful cross-examination of 
 these two witnesses, but after consuming much 
 time, was compelled to relinquish the attempt to 
 obtain any advantage, in despair. 
 
 At length the district attorney called the wood- 
 chopper to the bar. Billy gave an extremely con 
 fused account of the affair, although he evidently 
 aimed at the truth, until Mr. Van der School ad 
 dressed him, by asking some direct questions : 
 
 " It appears, from examining the papers, that 
 you demanded admission into the hut legally ; so 
 
488 THE PJOJVEERS. 
 
 you were put in bodily fear by his rifle and 
 threats ? 
 
 " I didn t mind them that, man," said Billy,, 
 snapping his fingers ; " I should be a poor stick to 
 mind such a one as old Leather-stocking." 
 
 " But 1 understood you to say, (referring to your 
 previous words, (as delivered here in court,) in 
 the commencement of your testimony,) that you 
 thought he meant to shoot you ?" 
 
 " To be sure I did ; and so would you too, Squire ? 
 if you had seen the chap dropping a muzzle that 
 never misses, and cocking an eye that has a riate- 
 ral squint by long practice. I thought there would 
 be a dust on t, and my back was up at once ; but 
 Leather-stocking gi n up the skin, and so the mat 
 ter ended." 
 
 " Ah ! Billy," said Natty, shaking his head, 
 " twas a lucky thought in me to throw out the 
 hide, or there might have been blood spilt ; and I m 
 sure, if it had been your n, I should have mourn d 
 it sorely the little while I have to stay." 
 
 " Well, Leather-stocking," returned Billy, facing 
 the prisoner with a freedom and familiarity that ut 
 terly disregarded the presence of the court, " as 
 you are on the subject, it may be that you ve no " 
 
 " Go on with your examination, Mr. District At 
 torney." 
 
 That gentleman eyed the familiarity between his 
 witness and the prisoner with manifest disgust, and 
 indicated to the court that he was done. 
 
 " Then you didn t feel frightened, Mr. Kirby ? ? 
 said the counsel for the prisoner. 
 
 " Me ! no," said Billy, casting his eyes over his 
 own huge frame with evident self-satisfaction ; " I m 
 not to be skeared so easy." 
 
 " You look like a hardy man ; where were you 
 born, sir ?" 
 
THE PIONEERS. 489 
 
 " Varmotmt state ; tis a raountaynious place, 
 but there s a stiff soil, and its pretty much wooded 
 with beech and maple." 
 
 " I have always heerd so," said Mr. Lippet, 
 soothingly. " You have been used to the rifle 
 yourself, in that country ?" 
 
 " I pull the second best trigger in this county. 
 I knock under to Natty Bumppo there, sin he shot 
 the pigeon." 
 
 Leather-stocking raised his head, and laughed 
 again, when he thrust out a wrinkled hand, and 
 said 
 
 " You re young yet, Billy, and haven t seen the 
 matches that I have ; but here s my hand ; I bear 
 no malice to you, I don t." 
 
 Mr. Lippet allowed this conciliatory offering to 
 be accepted, and judiciously paused while the spi 
 rit of peace was exercising her influence over the 
 two ; but the Judge interposed his authority by 
 saying 
 
 " This is an improper place for such dialogues. 
 Proceed with your examination of this witness, 
 Mr. Lippet, or I shall order the next." 
 
 The attorney started, as if he were unconscious 
 of any impropriety, and continued 
 
 "So you settled the matter with Natty amica 
 bly on the spot, did you ?" 
 
 " He gi n me the skin, and I didn t want to quarrel 
 with an old man ; for my part, I see no such mighty 
 matter m shooting a buck !" 
 
 " And you parted friends ? and you would never 
 have thought of bringing the business up before a. 
 court, hadn t you been subpoenaed ?" 
 
 " I don t think I should ; he gi n the skin, and I 
 didn t feel a hard thought, though Squire Doolittle 
 got some affronted." 
 
 " I have done, sir," said Mr. Lippet, probably 
 
490 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 relying on the charge of the Judge, as he again 
 seated himself, with the air of a man who felt that 
 his success was certain. 
 
 When Mr. Van der School arose to address the 
 jury, he commenced by saying 
 
 " Gentlemen of the jury, I should have inter 
 rupted the leading questions put by the prisoner s 
 counsel, (by leading questions I mean telling him 
 what to say, ) did I not feel confident that the law 
 of the land was superior to any advantages ( I mean 
 legal advantages) which he might obtain by his 
 art. The counsel for the prisoner, gentlemen, has 
 endeavoured to persuade you, in opposition to your 
 own good sense, to believe that pointing a rifle at 
 a constable ( elected or deputed ) is a very inno 
 cent affair ; and that society ( I mean the common 
 wealth, gentlemen, ) shall not be endangered there 
 by. But let me claim your attention, while we 
 look over the particulars of this heinous offence." 
 Here Mr. Van der School favoured the jury with 
 an abridgment of the testimony, recounted in such 
 a manner as utterly to confuse the faculties of his 
 worthy listeners. After this exhibition he closed 
 as follows : " and now, gentlemen, having thus 
 made plain to your senses the crime of which this 
 unfortunate man has been guilty, ( unfortunate both 
 on account of his ignorance and his guilt, ) I shall 
 leave you to your own consciences; not in the 
 least doubting, that you will see the importance 
 (notwithstanding the prisoner s counsel (doubtless 
 relying on your former verdict) wishes to appear 
 so confident of success) of punishing the offender, 
 and asserting the dignity of the laws." 
 
 It was now the duty of the Judge to deliver his 
 charge. It consisted of a short, comprehensive 
 summary of the testimony, laying bare the artifice 
 of the prisoner s counsel, and placing the facts in 
 
THE PIONEERS. 491 
 
 go obvious a light, that they could not well be mis- 7 
 understood. " Living as we do, gentlemen," he 
 concluded, " on the skirts of society, it becomes 
 doubly necessary to protect the ministers of the 
 law. If you believe the witnesses, in their con- N 
 struction of the acts of the prisoner, it is your duty 
 to convict him ; but if you believe that the old man, 
 who this day appears before you, meant not to harm 
 the constable, but was acting more under the in 
 fluence of habit than by the instigations of malice, 
 it will be your duty to judge him, but to do it with 
 lenity." 
 
 As before, the jury did not leave their box, but, 
 after a consultation of some little time, their fore 
 man arose, and pronounced the prisoner 
 
 " Guilty." 
 
 There was but little surprise manifested in the 
 court room at this verdict, as the testimony, the 
 greater part of which we have omitted, was too 
 clear and direct to be passed over. The judges 
 seemed to have anticipated this sentiment, for a 
 consultation was passing among them also, during 
 the deliberation of the jury, and the preparatory 
 movements of the " bench" announced the coming 
 sentence. 
 
 " Nathaniel Bumppo," commenced the Judge, 
 making the customary pause. 
 
 The old hunter, who had been musing again, 
 with his head on the bar, raised himself, and cried, 
 with a prompt, military tone 
 
 " Here." 
 
 The Judge waved his hand for silence, and pro 
 ceeded 
 
 " In forming their sentence, the court have been 
 governed as much by the consideration of your ig 
 norance of the laws, as by a strict sense of the im 
 portance of punishing such outrages as this of which 
 
492 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 you have been found guilty. They have, there 
 fore, passed over the obvious punishment of whip 
 ping on the bare back, in mercy to your years 
 but as the dignity of the law requires an open ex 
 hibition of the consequences of your crime, it is or 
 dered, that you be conveyed from this room to the 
 public stocks, where you are to be confined for one 
 hour ; that you pay a fine to the state of one hun 
 dred dollais; and that you be imprisoned in the 
 jail of this county for one calendar month ; and fur 
 thermore, that your imprisonment do not cease 
 until the said fine shall be paid. I feel it my duty, 
 Nathaniel Bumppo," 
 
 " And where should I get the money ?" inter 
 rupted the Leather-stocking, eagerly ; " where 
 should I get the money? you ll take away the 
 bounty on the painters, because I cut the throat of 
 a deer; and how is an old man to find so much 
 gold or silver in the woods ? No, no, Judge ; think 
 better of it, and don t talk of shutting me up in a 
 jail for the little time I have to stay." 
 
 " If you have any thing to urge against the pass 
 ing of the sentence, the court will yet hear you," 
 said the Judge, mildly. 
 
 " I have enough to say ag in it," cried Natty, 
 grasping the bar on which his fingers were work 
 ing with a convulsed motion. " Where am I to 
 get the money ? Let me out into the woods and 
 hills, where I ve been used to breathe the clear 
 air, and though I m threescore and ten, if you ve 
 left game enough in the country, I ll travel night 
 and day but I ll make you up the sum afore the 
 season is over. Yes, yes you see the reason of 
 the thing, and the wickedness of shutting up an 
 old man, that has spent his days, as one may say, 
 where he could always loo s into the windows of 
 oaaven." 
 
THE PIONEERS. 493 
 
 " I must be governed by the law"- 
 
 " Talk not to me of law, Marmaduke Temple," 
 interrupted the hunter. " Did the beast of the fo 
 rest mind your laws, when it was thirsty and hun 
 gering for the blood of your own child ! She was 
 kneeling to her God for a greater favour than I ask, 
 and he heard her ; and if you now say no to my 
 prayers, do you think he will be deaf?" 
 
 " My private feelings must not enter into " 
 " Hear me, Marmaduke Temple," interrupted 
 (he old man, with a melancholy tone of voice, 
 " and hear reason. I ve travelled these moun 
 tains when you was no judge, but an infant in your 
 mother s arms ; and I feel as if I had a right and a 
 privilege to travel them ag in afore I die. Have 
 you forgot the time that you come on to the lake- 
 shore, when there wasn t even a jail to lodge in ; 
 and didn t I give you my own bear-skin to sleep 
 on, and the fat of a noble buck to satisfy the crav 
 ings of your hunger ? Yes, yes you thought it no 
 sin then to kill a deer ! And this I did, though I 
 had no reason to love you, for you had never done 
 any thing but harm to them that loved and shel 
 tered me. And now, will you shut me up in your 
 dungeons to pay me for my kindness ? A hundred 
 dollars ! where should I get the money ? No, no 
 there s them that says hard things of you, Marma 
 duke Temple, but you an t so bad as to wish to see 
 an old man die in a prison, because he stood up for 
 the right. Come, friend, let me pass ; it s long 
 sin I ve been used to such crowds, and I crave to 
 be in the woods ag in. Don t fear me, Judge I 
 bid you not to fear me ; for if there s beaver enough 
 left on the streams, or the buckskins will sell for a 
 shilling a-piece, you shall have the last penny of 
 the fine. Where are ye, pups ! come away, dogs 
 come away ! we have a grievous toil to do for our 
 42 
 
494 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 years, but it snail be done yes, yes, I ve promised 
 it, arid it shall be done !" 
 
 It is unnecessary to say, that the movement of 
 the Leather-stocking was again intercepted by the 
 constable ; but before he had time to speak, a bus 
 tling in the crowd, and a loud hem, drew all eyes 
 to another part of the room. 
 
 Benjamin had succeeded in edging his way 
 through the people, and was now seen balancing 
 his short body, with one foot in a window and the 
 other on the railing of the jury-box. To the 
 amazement of the whole court, the steward was 
 evidently preparing to speak. After a good deal of 
 difficulty, he succeeded in drawing from his pocket 
 a small bag, and then found utterance. 
 
 " If-so-be," he said, " that your honour id agree 
 able to trust the poor fellow out on another cruise 
 among the beasts, here s a small matter that will 
 help to bring down the risk, seeing that there s 
 just thirty-five of your Spaniards in it ; and I wish, 
 from the bottom of my heart, that they was raal 
 British guineas, for the sake of the old boy. But 
 tis as it is ; and if Squire Dickens will just be so 
 good as to overhaul this small bit of an account, and 
 take enough from the bag to settle the same, he s 
 welcome to hold on upon the rest, till such time as 
 the Leather-stocking can grapple with them said 
 beaver, or, for that matter, for ever, and no thanks 
 asked." 
 
 As Benjamin concluded, he thrust out the wood 
 en register of his arrears to the " Bold Dragoon" 
 with one hand, while he offered his bag of dollars 
 with the other. Astonishment at this singular in 
 terruption produced a profound stillness in the 
 room, which was only interrupted by the Sheriff, 
 who struck his sword on the table, and cried 
 
 Silence 
 
THE PIONEERS. 496 
 
 " There must be an end to this," said the Judge, 
 struggling to overcome his feelings. " Constable, 
 lead the prisoner to the stocks. Mr. Clerk, what 
 stands next on the calendar ?" 
 
 Natty seemed to yield to his destiny, for he 
 sunk his head on his chest, and followed the officer 
 from the court-room in silence. The crowd moved 
 back for the passage of the prisoner, and when his 
 tall form was seen descending from the outer door, 
 a rush of the people to the scene of his disgrace 
 followed. 
 
CHAPTER XXXIY 
 
 Ha ! ha ! look ! he wears cruel garters 
 
 Lear 
 
 THE punishments of the common law were still 
 known, at the time of our tale, to the people of 
 New- York ; and the whipping-post, with its com 
 panion, the stocks, were not yet supplanted by the 
 more modern but doubtful expedients of the pub 
 lic prisons. Immediately in front of the jail those 
 relics of the elder times were situated, as a lesson 
 of precautionary justice to the evil-doers of the 
 settlement. 
 
 Natty followed the constables to this spot, bow 
 ing his head with submission to a power that he 
 was unable to oppose, and surrounded by the crowd 
 that formed a circle about his person exhibiting in 
 their countenances a strong curiosity. A consta 
 ble raised the upper part of the stocks, and pointed 
 with his finger to the holes where the old man was 
 to place his feet. Without making the least ob 
 jection to the punishment, the Leather-stocking 
 quietly seated himself on the ground, and suffered 
 his limbs to be laid in the openings, without even 
 a murmur ; though he cast one glance about him, 
 as if in quest of that sympathy that human nature 
 always seems to require under suffering. If he 
 
THE PIONEERS. 497 
 
 met no direct manifestations of pity, neither lid he 
 see any savage exultation expressed, nor hear a 
 single reproachful epithet. The character of the 
 mob, if it could be called by such a name, was that 
 of attentive subordination.- 
 
 The constable was in the act of lowering the up 
 per plank, when Benjamin, who had pressed close 
 to the side of the prisoner, said, in his hoarse tones, 
 as if seeking for some cause to create a quarrel 
 
 " Where away, master constable, is the use to 
 be found of clapping a man in them heie bilboes? 
 it neither stops his grog nor hurts his back ; what 
 for is it that you do the thing ?" 
 
 " Tis the sentence of the court, Mr. Penguillum, 
 and there s law for it, I s pose." 
 
 " Ay, ay, I know that there s law for the thing ; 
 but where away do you find the use, I say ? it does 
 no harm, and it only keeps a man by the heels for 
 the small matter of two glasses." 
 
 " Is it no harm, Benny Pump," said Natty, rais 
 ing his eyes with a piteous look to the face of the 
 steward " is it no harm to show off a man in his 
 seventy-first year, like a tame bear, for the settlers 
 to look on ! Is it no harm to put an old soldier, 
 that has sarved through the war of fifty-six, and 
 seen the inimy in the seventy-six business, into a 
 place like this, where the boys can point at him 
 and say, I have known the time when he was a 
 spictacle for the country ! Is it no harm to bring 
 down the pride of an honest man to be the equal 
 of the beasts of the forest !" 
 
 Benjamin stared about him fiercely, and could 
 he have found a single face that expressed contu 
 mely, he would have been prompt to ouarrel with 
 its owner ; but meeting every where with looks of 
 sobriety, and occasionally of commiseration, he 
 very deliberately seated himself by the side of the 
 42* 
 
498 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 hunter, and placing his legs in the two vacant holes 
 of the stocks, he said 
 
 " Now lower away, master constable, lower 
 away, I tell ye ! If-so-be there s such a thing here 
 abouts as a man that wants to see a bear, let him 
 
 look and be d d, and he shall find two of them, 
 
 and mayhap one of the same that can bite as well 
 as growl." 
 
 " But I ve no orders to put you in the stocks, 
 Mr. Pump," cried the constable ; " you must get 
 up, and let me do my duty." 
 
 " You ve my orders, and what do you need bet 
 ter to meddle with my own feet ? so lower away, 
 will ye, and let me see the man that chooses to 
 open his mouth with a grin on it." 
 
 " There can t be any harm in locking up a crea- 
 ter that will enter the pound," said the constable, 
 laughing, and closing the stocks on them both. 
 
 It was fortunate that this act was executed with 
 decision, for the whole of the spectators, when they 
 saw Benjamin assume the position he took, felt an 
 inclination for merriment, which few thought it worth 
 their efforts to suppress. The steward struggled 
 violently for his liberty again, with an evident in 
 tention of making battle on those who stood near 
 est to him ; but the key was already turned, and 
 all his efforts were made in vain. 
 
 " Hark ye, master constable," he cried, " just 
 clear away your bilboes for the small matter of a 
 log-glass, will ye, and let me show some of them 
 there chaps who it is that they are so merry about." 
 
 " No, no, you would go in, and you can t come 
 out," returned the officer, " until the time has ex 
 pired that the Judge directed for the keeping of 
 the prisoner." 
 
 Benjamin, finding that his threats and his strug 
 gles were useless, had good sense enough to learn 
 
THE PIONEERS. 491) 
 
 patience from the resigned manner of his com 
 panion, and soon settled himself down by the side 
 of Natty, with a contemptuousness expressed in 
 his hard features, that showed he had substituted 
 disgust for rage. When the violence of the stew 
 ard s feelings had in some measure subsided, he 
 turned to his fellow-sufferer, and, with a motive 
 that might have vindicated a worse effusion, he 
 attempted the charitable office of consolation. 
 
 " Taking it by and large, Master Bump-ho, tis 
 but a small matter after all," he said. " Now, I ve 
 known very good sort of men, aboard of the Boadi- 
 shey, laid by the heels, for nothing, mayhap, but 
 forgetting that they d drunk their allowance already, 
 when a glass of grog has come in their way. This 
 is nothing more than riding with two anchors ahead, 
 waiting for a turn in the tide, or a shift of wind, d ye 
 see, with a soft bottom and plenty of room for the 
 sweep of your hawse. Now I ve seen many a man, 
 for over-shooting his reckoning, as I told ye, moored 
 head and starn, where he couldn t so much as heave 
 his broadside round, and mayhap a stopper clapt on 
 his tongue too, in the shape of a pump-bolt lashed 
 athwartship his jaws, all the same as an out-rigger 
 along side of a taffrel-rail." 
 
 The hunter appeared to appreciate the kind in 
 tentions of the other, though he could not under 
 stand his eloquence ; and raising his humbled coun 
 tenance, he attempted a smile in vain, as he said 
 
 " Anan ! 
 
 " Tis nothing, I say, but a small matter of a 
 squall that will soon blow over," continued Benja 
 min. " To you that has such a length of keel, it 
 must be all the same as nothing ; thof, seeing that 
 I m a little short in my lower timbers, they ve 
 triced my heels up aloft in such a way as to give 
 me a bit of a slue. But what cares I, Master 
 
500 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 Bump-ho, if the ship strains a little at her anchor ; 
 it s only for a dog-watch, and dam me but she ll 
 sail with you then on that cruise after them said 
 beaver. I m not much used to small arms, seeing 
 that I was stationed at the ammunition-boxes, be 
 ing sum mat too low-rigged to see over the ham 
 mock-cloths ; but I can carry the game, d ye see, 
 and mayhap make out to lend a hand with the 
 traps ; and if-so-be you re any way so handy with 
 them as ye be with your boat-hook, twill be but a 
 short cruise after all. I ve squared the yards with 
 Squire Dickens this morning, and I shall send him 
 word that he needn t bear my name on the books 
 again till such time as the cruise is over." 
 
 " You re used to dwell with men, Benny," said 
 Leather-stocking, mournfully, " and the ways of 
 the woods would be hard on you, if" 
 
 " Not a bit not a bit," cried the steward ; " I m 
 none of your fair-weather chaps, Master Bump-ho, 
 as sails only in smooth water. When I find a friend, 
 I sticks by him, d ye see. Now, there s no better 
 man a-going than Squire Dickens, and I love him 
 about the same as I loves Mistress Hollister s new 
 keg of Jamaiky." The steward paused, and turn 
 ing his uncouth visage on the hunter, he surveyed 
 him with a roguish leer of his eye, and gradually 
 suffered the muscles of his hard features to relax, 
 until his face was illuminated by the display of his 
 w r hite teeth, when he dropped his voice, and added 
 " I say, Master Leather-stocking, tis fresher 
 and livelier than any Hollands you ll get in Garn- 
 sey. But we ll send a hand over and ask the wo 
 man for a taste, for I m so jamb d in these here 
 bilboes, that I begin to want sum mat to lighten my 
 upper works." 
 
 Natty sighed, and gazed about him on the crowd, 
 that already began to disperse, and which had now 
 
THE PIONEERS. 501 
 
 diminished greatly, as its members scattered in their 
 various pursuits. He looked wistfully at Benja 
 min, but did not reply ; a deeply seated anxiety 
 seeming to absorb every other sensation, and to 
 throw a melancholy gloom over his wrinkled fea 
 tures, which were working with the movements of 
 his mind. 
 
 The steward was about to act on the old princi 
 ple, that silence gives consent, when Hiram Doo- 
 little, attended by Jotham, stalked out of the crowd, 
 across the open space, and approached the stocks. 
 The magistrate passed by the end where Benjamin 
 was seated, and posted himself, at a safe distance 
 from the steward, in front of the Leather-stocking. 
 Hiram stood, for a moment, cowering before the 
 keen looks that Natty fastened on him, and suffer 
 ing under an embarrassment that was quite new ; 
 when, having in some degree recovered himself, 
 he looked at the heavens, and then at the smoky 
 atmosphere, as if it were only an ordinary meeting 
 with a friend, and said, in his formal, hesitating 
 way 
 
 " Quite a scurcity of rain lately ; I some think 
 we shall have a long drought on t." 
 
 Benjamin was occupied in untying his bag of 
 dollars, and did not observe the approach of the 
 magistrate, while Natty turned his face, in which 
 every muscle was working, away from him in dis 
 gust, without answering. Rather encouraged than 
 daunted by this exhibition of dislike, Hiram, after 
 a short pause, continued 
 
 " The clouds look as if they d no water in them, 
 and the earth is dreadfully parched. To my judg 
 ment, there ll be short crops this season, if the rain 
 doos nt fall quite speedily." 
 
 The air with which Mr. Doolittle delivered this 
 prophetical opinion was peculiar to his species. It 
 
502 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 was a Jesuitical, cold, unfeeling, and selfish manne 
 that seemed to say, " I have kept within the law/ ; 
 to the man he had so cruelly injured. It quite 
 overcame the restraint that the old hunter had 
 been labouring to impose on himself, and he burst 
 out in a warm glow of indignation. 
 
 " Why should .the rain fall from the clouds," he 
 cried, " when you force the tears from the eyes of 
 the old, the sick, and the poor ! Away with ye 
 away with ye ! you may be formed in the image 
 of the Maker, but Satan dwells in your heart. Away 
 with ye, I say ! I am mournful, and the sight of ye 
 brings bitter thoughts." 
 
 Benjamin ceased thumbing his money, and raised 
 his head, at the instant that Hiram, who was thrown 
 off his guard by the invectives of the hunter, un 
 luckily trusted his person within the reach of the 
 steward, who grasped one of his legs, with a hand 
 that had the grip of a vice, and whirled the ma 
 gistrate from his feet, before he had either time to 
 collect his senses, or exercise the strength he did 
 really possess. Benjamin wanted neither propor 
 tions nor manhood in his head, shoulders, and arms, 
 though all the rest of his frame appeared to be ori 
 ginally intended for a very different sort of a man. 
 He exerted his physical powers, on the present 
 occasion, with much discretion, and as their posi 
 tions were a great disadvantage to his antagonist, 
 without at all discomposing the steward, the strug 
 gle resulted, very soon, in Benjamin getting the 
 magistrate fixed in a posture somewhat similar to 
 his own, and manfully placed face to face. 
 
 " You re a ship s cousin, I teJ ye, Master Doo- 
 but-little," roared the steward " some such mat 
 ter as a ship s cousin, sir. I know you, I do, with 
 your fair-weather speeches to Squire Dickens, to 
 his face, and then yon go and sarve out your gruin- 
 
THE PIONEERS. 503 
 
 bling to all the old women in the town, do ye. An t 
 it enough far any Christian, let him harbour never 
 so much malice, to get an honest old fellow laid by 
 the heels in this fashion, without carrying sail so 
 hard on the poor dog, as if you would run him 
 down as he lay at his anchors ? But I ve logged 
 many a hard thing against your name, master, and 
 now the time s come to foot up the day s work, 
 d ye see ; so square yourself, you lubber, square 
 yourself, and we ll soon know who s the better 
 man." 
 
 " Jotham !" cried the frightened magistrate 
 u Jotham ! call in the constables. Mr. Penguil- 
 lium, I command the peace I order you to keep 
 the peace." 
 
 " There s been more peace than love atwixt us, 
 master," cried the steward, making some very 
 equivocal demonstrations towards hostility ; " so 
 mind yourself ! square yourself, I say ! do you 
 smell this here bit of a sledge-hammer ?" 
 
 " Lay hands on me if you dare !" exclaimed Hi 
 ram, as well as he could under the grasp which the 
 steward held on his throttle " lay hands on me 
 if you dare !" 
 
 " If ye call this laying, master, you are welcome 
 to the eggs," roared the steward. 
 
 It becomes our disagreeable duty to record here, 
 that the acts of Benjamin now became perfectly 
 unequivocal ; for he darted his sledge-hammer vi 
 olently on the anvil of Mr. Doolittle s countenance, 
 and the place became, in an instant, a scene of tu 
 mult and confusion. The crowd rushed in a dense 
 circle around the spot, while some ran to the court 
 room to give the alarm, and one or two of the more 
 juvenile part of the multitude had a desperate trial 
 of speed, to see who should be the happy man to 
 
504 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 communicate the critical situation of the magistrate 
 to his wife. 
 
 Benjamin worked with great industry and a good 
 deal of skill, at his occupation, using one hand to 
 raise up his antagonist, while he knocked him o\er 
 with the other ; for he would have been disgraced 
 in his own estimation, had he struck a blow on a 
 fallen adversary. By this considerate arrange 
 ment he found means, however, to hammer the 
 visage of Hiram out of all shape, by the time that 
 Richard succeeded in forcing his way through the 
 throng to the point of combat. The Sheriff after 
 ward declared that, independent of his mortifica 
 tion, as preserver of the peace of the county, at 
 this interruption to its harmony, he was never so 
 grieved in his life, as when he saw this breach of 
 unity between his favourites. Hiram had in some 
 degree become necessary to his vanity, and Ben 
 jamin, strange as it may appear, he really loved. 
 This attachment was exhibited in the first words 
 that he uttered. 
 
 " Squire Doolittle ! . Squire Doolittle ! I am 
 ashamed to see a man of your character and office 
 forget himself so much as to disturb the peace, in 
 sult the court, and beat poor Benjamin in this man 
 ner ! 
 
 At the sound of Mr. Jones s voice, the steward 
 ceased his employment, and Hiram had an opper- 
 tunity of raising his discomfited visage towards the 
 mediator. Emboldened by the sight of the Sheriff, 
 Mr. Doolittle again had recourse to his lungs. 
 
 " I ll have the law on you for this," he cried 
 desperately ; " I ll have the law on you for this. I 
 call on you, Mr. Sheriff, to seize this man, and I 
 demand that you take his body into custody." 
 
 By this time Richard was master of the true 
 
THE PIONEERS. 505 
 
 state of the case, and, turning to the steward, he 
 cried 
 
 " Benjamin, how came you in the stocks ? I al 
 ways thought you were as mild and docile as a 
 lamb. It was for your docility that I most esteem 
 ed you. Benjamin! Benjamin! you have not only 
 disgraced yourself, but your friends, by this shame 
 less conduct. Bless me ! bless me ! Mr. Doolit- 
 tle, he seems to have knocked your face all of one 
 side." 
 
 Hiram by this time had got on his feet again, and 
 without the reach of the steward, when he broke 
 forth in violent appeals for vengeance. The of 
 fence was too apparent to be passed over, and the 
 Sheriff, mindful of the impartiality exhibited by 
 his cousin in the recent trial of the Leather-stock 
 ing, came to the painful conclusion that it was ne 
 cessary to commit his major-domo to prison. As 
 the time of Natty s punishment was expired, and 
 Benjamin found that they were to be confined, for 
 that night at least, in the same apartment, he made 
 no very strong objections to the measure, nor 
 spoke of bail, though, as the Sheriff preceded the 
 party of constables that conducted them to the jail, 
 he uttered the following remonstrance : 
 
 " As to being birthed with Master Bump-ho for 
 a night or so, it s but little I think of it, Squire 
 Dickens, seeing that I calls him an honest man, 
 and one as has a handy way with boat-hooks and 
 rifles ; but as for owning that a man desarves any 
 thing worse than a double allowance, for knocking 
 that carpenter s face a-one-side, as you call it, I ll 
 maintain it s ag in reason and Christianity. If 
 there s a blood-sucker in this ere country, it s that 
 ve.ry chap. Ay ! I know him ! and if he hasn t got 
 all the same as dead-wood in his head-works, he 
 knows sum mat of me. Where s the mighty harm, 
 43 
 
506 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 Squire, that you take it so much to heart ? It s all 
 the same as any other battle, d ye see, sir, being 
 fair broadside to broadside, only that it was fout 
 at anchor, which was what we did in Port Pray a 
 roads, when Suff ring came in among us ; and a 
 suff ring time he had of it, before he got out again." 
 
 Richard thought it unworthy of him to make any 
 reply to this speech ; but when his prisoners were 
 safely lodged in an outer dungeon, ordering the 
 bolts to be drawn and the key turned, he with 
 drew. 
 
 Benjamin held frequent and friendly dialogues 
 with different people, through the iron gratings, 
 during the afternoon ; but his companion paced 
 their narrow limits, in his moccasins, with quick, 
 impatient treads, his face hanging on his breast in 
 dejection, or when lifted, at moments, to the idlers 
 at the window, lighted, perhaps, for an instant, 
 with the childish aspect of aged forgetfulness, 
 which would vanish directly in an expression of 
 deep and obvious anxiety. 
 
 At the close of the day, Edwards was seen at the 
 window, in close and earnest dialogue with his 
 friend ; and after he departed, it was thought thai 
 he had communicated words of comfort to the hunt 
 er, w r ho threw himself on his pallet, and was soon 
 in a deep sleep. The curious spectators had ex 
 hausted the conversation of the steward, who had 
 drunk good fellowship with half of his acquaint 
 ance, and as Natty was no longer in motion, b} 
 eight o clock, Billy Kirby, who was the last loun 
 ger at the window, retired into the " Templetowi 
 Coffee-house," when Natty rose and hung a blan 
 ket before the opening, and the prisoners appa 
 rently retired for the night. 
 
CHAPTER XXXV 
 
 And to avoid the foe s pursuit, 
 With spurring put their cattle to t 
 And till all four were out of wind, 
 , \nd danger too, ne er look d behind." 
 
 Htidibras. 
 
 As the shades of the evening approached, the 
 jurors, witnesses, and other attendants on the court, 
 began to disperse, and before nine o clock the vil 
 lage was quiet, and its streets nearly deserted. At 
 that hour Judge Temple and his daughter, follow 
 ed at a short distance by Louisa Grant, walked 
 slowly down the avenue, under the slight shadows 
 of the young poplars, holding the following dis 
 course : 
 
 " You can best soothe his wounded spirit, my 
 child," said Marmaduke ; " but it will be danger 
 ous to touch on the nature of his offence ; the sanc 
 tity of the laws must be respected." 
 
 " Surely, sir," cried the impatient Elizabeth, 
 " those laws that condemn a man like the Leather- 
 stocking to so severe a punishment, for an oftcnce 
 that even I must think very venial, cannot be per 
 fect in themselves." 
 
 " Thou talkest of what thou dost not understand, 
 Elizabeth," returned her father. " Society can 
 not exist without wholesome restraints. Those 
 restraints cannot be inflicted, without security and 
 
508 THE PIONEERS 
 
 respect to the persons of those who administer 
 them ; and it would sound ill indeed to report, that 
 a judge had extended favour to a convicted crimi 
 nal, because he had saved the life of his child." 
 
 " I see I see the difficulty of your situation, 
 dear sir," cried the daughter; "but in appreciating 
 the offence of poor Natty, I cannot separate the 
 minister of the law from the man." 
 
 " There thou talkest as a woman, child ; it is 
 not for an assault on Hiram Doolittle, but for 
 threatening the life of a constable, who was in the 
 performance of" 
 
 " It is immaterial whether it be one or the other," 
 interrupted Miss Temple, with a logic that con 
 tained more feeling than reason ; " I know Natty 
 to be innocent, and, thinking so, I must think all 
 wrong who oppress him." 
 
 " His judge among the number ! thy father, Eli 
 zabeth ?" 
 
 " Nay, nay nay ; do not put such questions to 
 me ; give me my commission, father, and let me 
 proceed to execute it." 
 
 The Judge paused a moment, smiling fondly on 
 his child, and then dropped his hand affectionately 
 on her shoulder, as he answered 
 
 " Thou hast reason, Bess, and much of it too, 
 but thy heart lies too near thy head. But listen: 
 in this pocket-book are two hundred dollars. Go 
 to the prison there are none in this place to harm 
 thee give this note to the jailer, and when thou 
 seest Bumppo, say what thou wilt to the poor old 
 man ; give scope to the feelings of thy warm heart ; 
 but try to remember, Elizabeth, that the laws 
 alone remove us from the condition of the savages; 
 that he has been criminal, and that his judge was 
 thy father." 
 
 Miss Temple made no reply, but she pressed 
 
THE PIONEERS. 509 
 
 the band that held the pocket-hook to her hosom, 
 and taking her friend by the arm, they issued to 
 gether from the enclosure into the principal street 
 of the village. 
 
 As they pursued their walk in silence, under the 
 row of houses, where the deeper gloom of the 
 evening effectually concealed their persons, no 
 sound reached them, excepting the slow tread of a 
 yoke of oxen, with the rattling of a cart, that were 
 moving along the street in the same direction with 
 themselves. The figure of the teamster was just 
 discernible by the dim light, lounging by their side, 
 with a listless air, as if equally fatigued with his 
 beasts, by the toil of the day. At the corner, 
 where the jail stood, the progress of the ladies was 
 impeded, for a moment, by the oxen, who were 
 turned up to the side of the building, and given a 
 lock of hay, which they had carried on their necks, 
 as a reward for their patient labour. The whole 
 of this was so natural, and so common, that Eliza 
 beth saw nothing to induce a second glance at the 
 team, until she heard the teamster speaking to his 
 cattle in a low voice 
 
 " Mind yourself, Brindle ; will you, sir ! will 
 you !" 
 
 The language itself was unusual to oxen, with 
 which all who dwell in anew country are familiar; 
 but there was something in the voice also, that 
 startled Miss Temple. On turning the corner, 
 she necessarily approached near to the man, and 
 her searching look was enabled to detect the per 
 son of Oliver Edwards, concealed under the coarse 
 garb of a teamster. Their eyes met at the same 
 instant, and, notwithstanding the gloom, and the 
 enveloping cloak of Elizabeth, the recognition was 
 mutual. 
 
 " Miss Temple " Mr. Edwards ! were ex- 
 43* 
 
510 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 claimed simultaneously, though a feeling that seem 
 ed common to them both rendered their tones 
 nearly inaudible. 
 
 " Is it possible " exclaimed Edwards, after the 
 moment of doubt had passed ; "do I see you so 
 nigh the jail ! but you are going to the Rectory, I 
 beg pardon, Miss Grant, I believe ; I did not re 
 cognise you at first." 
 
 The sigh which Louisa uttered was so faint, 
 that it was only heard by Elizabeth, who replied 
 quickly 
 
 " We are going not only to the jail, Mr. Ed 
 wards, but into it. We wish to show the Leather- 
 stocking that we do not forget his services, and 
 that, at the same time we must be just, we are also 
 grateful. I suppose you are on a similar errand : 
 but let me beg that you will give us leave to pre 
 cede you ten minutes. Good night, sir ; I I 
 am quite sorry, Mr. Edwards, to see you reduced 
 to such labour ; I am sure my father would " 
 
 " I shall wait your pleasure, madam," inter 
 rupted the youth, coldly. " May I beg that you 
 will not mention my being here ?" 
 
 " Certainly, sir," said Elizabeth, returning his 
 bow by a slight inclination of her head, and urging 
 the tardy Louisa forward. As they entered the 
 jailer s house, however, Miss Grant found leisure 
 to whisper 
 
 " Would it not be well to offer part of your 
 money to Oliver ? half of it will pay the fine of 
 Bumppo ; and he is so unused to hardships ! I 
 am sure my father will subscribe much of his little 
 pittance, to place him in a station that is more wor 
 thy of him." 
 
 The involuntary smile that passed over the fea 
 tures of Elizabeth was transient as a gleam of flit 
 ting light, and was blended with an expression of 
 
THE PIONEERS. -511 
 
 4eep and heart-felt pity. She did nut reply, how 
 ever, and the appearance of the jailer soon re 
 called the thoughts of both to the immediate object 
 of their visit. 
 
 The rescue of the ladies, and their consequent 
 interest in his prisoner, together with the informal 
 manners that prevailed in the country, all united 
 to prevent any surprise, on the part of the jailer, 
 at their request for admission to Bumppo. The 
 note of Judge Temple, however, would have si 
 lenced all objections, if he had felt them, and he 
 led the way without hesitation to the apartment 
 that held the prisoners. The instant the key was 
 put into the lock, the hoarse voice of Benjamin 
 was heard, demanding 
 
 " Yo ! hoy ! who comes there ?" 
 
 " Some visiters that you ll be glad to see," re 
 turned the jailer. " What have you done to the 
 lock, that it wo n t turn ?" 
 
 " Handsomely, handsomely, master," cried the 
 steward ; " I ve just drove a nail into a birth along 
 side of this here bolt, as a stopper, d ye see, so that 
 master Doo-but-little can t be running in and 
 breezing up another fight atwixt us ; for, to my ac 
 count, there ll be but a ban-yan with me soon, see 
 ing that they ll mulct me of my Spaniards, all the 
 same as if I d overflogged the lubber. Throw your 
 ship into the wind, and lay by for a small matter, 
 will ye ? and I ll soon clear a passage." 
 
 The sounds of hammering gave an assurance that 
 the steward was in earnest, and in a short time the 
 lock yielded, when the door was opened. 
 
 Benjamin had evidently been anticipating the 
 seizure of his money, for he had made frequent de 
 mands on the favourite cask at the " Bold Dragoon," 
 during the afternoon and evening, and was now in 
 that state which by marine imagery is called " half- 
 
512 THE PIONEERS 
 
 seas-over." It was no easy thing to destroy the 
 balance of the old tar by the effects of liquor, for, 
 as he expressed it himself, " he was too low-rigged 
 not to carry sail in all weathers ;" but he was pre 
 cisely in that condition which is so expressively 
 termed " muddy." When he perceived who the 
 visiters were, he retreated to the side of the room 
 where his pallet lay, and, regardless of the presence 
 of his young mistress, seated himself on it with an 
 air of great sobriety, placing his back firmly against 
 the wall. 
 
 " If you undertake to spoil my locks in this man 
 ner, Mr. Pump," said the jailer, " I shall put a 
 stopper, as you call it, on your legs, and tie you 
 down to your bed." 
 
 " What for should ye, Master ?" grumbled Ben 
 jamin ; " Pve rode out one squall to-day, anchored 
 by the heels, and I wants no more of them. Where s 
 the harm of doing all the same as yourself? Leave 
 that there door free outboard, and you ll find no 
 locking inboard, I ll promise ye." 
 
 " I must shut up for the night at nine," said the 
 jailer, " and it s now forty-two minutes past eight." 
 He placed the little candle he carried on a rough 
 pine table, and withdrew. 
 
 " Leather-stocking !" said Elizabeth, when the 
 key of the door was turned on them again, " my 
 good friend Leather-stocking ! I have come on a 
 message of gratitude to you. Had you submitted 
 to the search, worthy old man, the death of the 
 deer would have been a trifle, and all would have 
 been well " 
 
 " Submit to the sarch !" interrupted Natty, 
 raising his face from resting on his knees, without 
 rising from the corner where he had seated him 
 self ; " d ye think, gal, I would let such a varmint 
 into my hut ? No, no I wouldn t have opened 
 
THE PIONEERS. 513 
 
 the door to your own sweet countenance then. But 
 they are wilcome to sarch among the coals and 
 ashes now ; they ll find only some such heap as is 
 to be seen at every pot-ashery in the mountains." 
 
 The old man dropped his face again on one hand, 
 and seemed to be lost in a melancholy musing. 
 
 " The hut can be rebuilt, and made better than 
 before," returned Miss Temple ; " and it shall be 
 my office to see it done, when your imprisonment 
 is ended." 
 
 " Can ye raise the dead, child ?" said Natty, in a 
 sorrowful voice ; " can ye go into the place where 
 you ve laid your fathers, and mothers, and chil 
 dren, and gather together their ashes, and make 
 the same men and women of them as afore ? You 
 do not know what tis to lay your head for more 
 than forty years under the cover of the same logs, 
 and to look on the same things for the better part 
 of a man s life. You are young yet, child, but you 
 are one of the most precious of God s creaters. I 
 had a hope for ye that it might come to pass, but 
 it s all over now ; this put to that, will drive the 
 thing; quite out of his mind for ever." 
 
 Miss Temple must have understood the meaning 
 of the old man better than the other listeners ; for, 
 while Louisa stood innocently by her side, com 
 miserating the griefs of the hunter, the heiress bent 
 her head aside, so as to conceal her features from 
 the dim light, by her dark tresses. The action and 
 the feeling that caused it lasted but a moment, 
 when she faced the party, and continued 
 
 " Other logs, and better, though, can be had, and 
 shall be found for you, my old defender. Your con 
 finement will soon be over, and, before that time ar 
 rives, I shall have a house prepared for you, where 
 you may spend the close of your harmless life in 
 ease and plenty." 
 
514 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 " Ease and plenty ! house !" repeated Natty, 
 slowly. You mean well, gal, you mean well, and 
 I quite mourn that it cannot be ; but he has seen 
 me a sight and a laughing-stock for" 
 
 " Damn your stocks," said Benjamin, flourishing 
 his bottle with one hand, from which he had been 
 taking hasty and repeated draughts, while he made 
 gestures of disdain with the other ; " who cares for 
 his bilboes ? there s a leg that s been stuck up an 
 end like a gib-boom for an hour, d ye see, and 
 what s it the worse for t, ha ! canst tell me, what s 
 it the worser, ha ?" 
 
 " I believe you forget, Mr. Pump, in whose pre 
 sence you sit with so much composure," said Eli 
 zabeth. 
 
 " Forget you, Miss Lizzy," returned the stew 
 ard ; " if I do dam me ; " you re not to be forgot, 
 like Goody Pretty-bones, up at the big house there. 
 T say, old sharp-shooter, she may have pretty 
 bones, but I can t say so much for her flesh, d ye see, 
 for she looks sum mat like an otomy with another 
 man s jacket on. Now, for the skin of her face, 
 it s all the same as a new top-sail with a taught 
 bolt-rope, being snug at the leaches, but all in a 
 bight about the inner cloths." 
 
 " Peace I command you to be silent, sir !" said 
 Elizabeth. 
 
 " Ay, ay, ma am," returned the steward. cc You 
 didn t say I shouldn t drink, though." 
 
 " We will not speak of what is to become of 
 others," said Miss Temple, turning again to the 
 hunter " but of your own fortunes, Natty. It shall 
 be my care to see that you pass the rest of your 
 days in ease and plenty." 
 
 " Ease and plenty !" again repeated the Leather- 
 stocking " what ease can there be to an old man, 
 who must walk a mile across the open fields, before 
 
THE PIONEERS, -515 
 
 lie can find a shade to hide him from a scorching 
 sun ! or what plenty is there where you may hunt 
 a day, and not start a buck, or see any thing bigger 
 than a mink, or maybe a stray fox ! Ah ! I shall 
 have a hard time after them very beavers, for this 
 fine. I must go low toward the Pennsylvany line 
 in sarch of the creaters, maybe a hundred mile, for 
 they are not to be got here-away. No, no your 
 betterments and clearings have druv the knowing 
 things out of the country ; and instead of beaver- 
 dams, which is the nater of the animal, and accord 
 ing to Providence, you turn back the waters over 
 the low grounds with your mill-dams, as if twas in 
 man to stay the drops from going where He wills 
 them to go. Benny, unless you stop your hand 
 from going so often to your mouth, you won t be 
 ready to start when the time comes." 
 
 " Hark ee, Master Bump-ho," said the steward ; 
 " don t you fear for Ben. When the watch is call 
 ed, set me on my legs, and give me the bearings 
 and distance of where you want to steer, and I ll 
 carry sail with the best of you, I will." 
 
 " The time has come now," said the hunter, lis 
 tening ; " I hear the horns of the oxen rubbing ag in 
 the side of the jail." 
 
 " Well, say the word, and then heave ahead, 
 shipmate," said Benjamin. 
 
 " You won t betray us, gal ?" said Natty, look 
 ing up simply into the face of Elizabeth " you 
 won t betray an old man, who craves to breathe the 
 clear air of heaven ? I mean no harm, and if the 
 -aw says that I must pay the hundred dollars, I ll 
 take the season through, but it shall be forthcom 
 ing ; and this good man will help mo." 
 
 " You catch them," said Benjamin, with a sweep 
 ing gesture of his arm, " and if they get away 
 again, call me a slink, that s all." 
 
THE PIONEERS 
 
 " But what mean you !" cried the wondering 
 Elizabeth. " Here you must stay for thirty days ; 
 but J have the money for your fine in this purse. 
 Take it ; pay it in the morning, and summon pa 
 tience for your month. 1 will come often to see 
 you. with my friend ; we will make up your clothes 
 with our own hands ; indeed, indeed, you shall be 
 comfortable." 
 
 " Would ye, children ?" said Natty, advancing 
 across the floor with an air of kindness, and taking 
 the hand of Elizabeth ; " would ye be so kearful 
 of an old man, and just for shooting the beast which 
 cost him nothing ? Such things doesn t run in the 
 blood, I believe, for you seem not to forget a fa 
 vour. Your little fingers couldn t do much on a 
 buck-skin, nor be you used to such a thread as 
 sinews. But if he hasn t got past hearing, he shal) 
 hear it and know it, that he may see, like me, there 
 is some who know how to remember a kindness." 
 
 " Tell him nothing," cried Elizabeth, earnestly ; 
 " if you love me, if you regard my feelings, tell 
 Jiim nothing. It is of yourself only I would talk, 
 and foi yourself only I act. I grieve, Leather- 
 stocking, that the law requires that you should be 
 detained here so long ; but, after all, it will be only 
 a short month, and " 
 
 " A month !" exclaimed Natty, opening his 
 mouth with his usual laugh ; " not a day, nor a 
 night, nor an hour, gal. Judge Temple may sin- 
 tence, but he can t keep, without a better dungeon 
 than this. I was taken once by the French, and , 
 they put sixty- two of u& in a block-house, nigh 
 hand to old Frontinac ; but twas easy to cut through 
 a pine log -to them that was used to timber." The 
 hunter paused, and looked cautiously around the 
 room, when, laughing again, he shoved the stew 
 ard gently from his post, and removing the bed- 
 
THE PIONEERS. 
 
 517 
 
 clothes, discovered a hole recently cut in the logs 
 with a rnallet and chisel. " It s only a kick, and 
 the outside piece is off, and then 
 
 " Off! ay, off !" cried Benjamin, rousing from 
 his stupor ; " well, here s off. Ay ! ay ! you catch 
 em, and I ll hold on to them said beaver-hats." 
 
 " I fear this lad will trouble me much," said 
 Natty ; " twill be a hard pull for the mountain, 
 should they take the scent soon, and he is not in a 
 state of mind to run." 
 
 " Run !" echoed the steward ; " no, sheer along 
 side, and let s have a fight of it." 
 
 " Peace !" ordered Elizabeth. 
 
 " Ay, ay, ma am." 
 
 " You will not leave us, surely, Leather-stock 
 ing," continued Miss Temple ; u I beseech you, 
 reflect that you will be driven to the woods en 
 tirely, and that you are fast getting old. Be pa 
 tient for a little time, when you can go abroad 
 openly, and with honour." 
 
 " Is there beaver to be catched here, gal ?" 
 
 " If not, here is money to discharge the fine, 
 and in a month you are free. See, here it is in gold." 
 
 " Gold !" said Natty, with a kind of childish 
 curiosity ; " its long sin I ve seen a gold piece. 
 We used to get the broad joes, in the old war, as 
 plenty as the bears be now. I remember there 
 was a man in Dieskau s army, that was killed, who 
 had a dozen of the shining things sewed up in his 
 shirt. I didn t handle them myself, but I seen 
 them cut out, with my own eyes ; they was big 
 ger and brighter than them be." 
 
 " These are English guineas, and are yours," 
 said Elizabeth ; " an earnest of what shall be done 
 r or you." 
 
 " Me ! why should you give me this treasure ? w 
 -aid Natty, looking earnestly at the maiden 
 44 
 
518 THE PIO> ERS. 
 
 " Why! have you not saved my life? did you 
 not rescue me from the jaws of the beast ?" ex 
 claimed Elizabeth, veiling her eyes, as if to hide 
 some hideous object from her view. 
 
 The hunter took the money, and continued turn 
 ing it in his hand for some time, piece by piece, 
 talking aloud during the operation. 
 
 " There s a rifle, they say, out on the Cherry 
 Valley, that will carry a hundred rods and kill. 
 I ve seen good guns in my day, but none quite 
 equal to that. A hundred rods with any sartainty 
 is great shooting ! Well, well I m old, and the 
 gun I have will answer my time. Here, child, 
 take back your gold. But the hour has come ; I 
 hear him talking to the cattle, and I must be go 
 ing. You won t tell of us, gal you won t tell of 
 us, will ye ? " 
 
 " Tell of you !" echoed Elizabeth," But take 
 the money, old man ; take the money, even if you 
 go into the mountains." 
 
 " No, no," said Natty, shaking his head kindly ; 
 " I wouldn t rob you so for twenty rifles. But 
 there s one thing you can do for me, if ye will, that 
 no other is at hand to do." 
 
 " Name it name it." 
 
 " Why, it s only to buy a canister of powder ; 
 twill cost two silver dollars. Benny Pump has 
 the money ready, but we daren t come into the 
 town to get it. Nobody has it but the French 
 man. Tis of the best, and just suits a rifle. Will 
 you get it for me, gal ? say, will you get it for 
 me ?" 
 
 " Will I ! I will bring it to you, Leather-stock 
 ing, though I toil a day in quest of you through 
 the woods. But where shall I find you, and how ?" 
 
 " Where !" said Natty, musing a moment " to 
 morrow, on the Vision ; on the very top of the Vi- 
 
THE PIONEERS. 519 
 
 sion, I ll meet you, child, just as the sun gets over 
 our heads. See that it s the fine grain ; you ll 
 know it by the gloss, and the price." 
 
 " I will do it," said Elizabeth, firmly. 
 
 Natty now seated himself, and, placing his feet 
 in the hole, with a slight effort he opened a pass 
 age through into the street. The ladies heard the 
 rustling of hay, and well understood the reason 
 why Edwards was in the capacity of a teamster. 
 
 " Come, Benny," said the hunter ; " twill be 
 no darker to-night, for the moon will rise in an 
 hour." 
 
 " Stay!" exclaimed Elizabeth; "it should not 
 be said that you escaped in the presence of the 
 daughter of Judge Temple. Return, Leather-stock 
 ing, and let us retire, before you execute your 
 plan." 
 
 Natty was about to reply, when the approaching 
 footsteps of the jailer announced the necessity of 
 his immediate return. He had barely time to re 
 gain his feet, and to conceal the hole with the bed 
 clothes, across which Benjamin very opportunely 
 fell, before the key was turned, and the door of 
 the apartment opened. 
 
 " Isn t Miss Temple ready to go ?" said the civil 
 jailer " it s the usooal hour for locking up." 
 
 " I follow you, sir," returned Elizabeth, " Good 
 night, Leather-stocking." 
 
 " It s a fine grain, gal, and I think twill carry 
 lead further than common. I am getting old, and 
 can t follow up the game with the step that 1 used 
 to could." 
 
 Miss Temple waved her hand for silence, and 
 preceded Louisa and the keeper from the apart 
 ment. The man turned the key once, and ob 
 served that he would return and secure his prison 
 ers, when he had lighted the ladies to the street. 
 
520 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 Accordingly, they parted at the door of the build 
 ing, when the jailer retired to his dungeons, and 
 the ladies walked, with throbbing hearts, towards 
 the corner. 
 
 " Now the Leather-stocking refuses the money," 
 whispered Louisa, " it can all be given to Mr. Ed 
 wards, and that added to" 
 
 " Listen !" said Elizabeth ; " I hear the rustling 
 of the hay; they are escaping at this moment. 
 Oh ! they will be detected instantly !" 
 
 By this time they were at the corner, where Ed 
 wards and Natty were in the act of drawing the al 
 most helpless body of Benjamin through the aper 
 ture. The oxen had started back from their hay, 
 and were standing with their heads down the 
 street, leaving room for the party to act in. 
 
 " Throw the hay into the cart," said Edwards, 
 " or they will suspect how it has been done. 
 Quick, that they may not see it." 
 
 Natty had just returned from executing this or 
 der, when the light of the keeper s candle shone 
 through the hole, and instantly his voice was heard 
 in the jail, exclaiming for his prisoners. 
 
 " What is to be done now ?" said Edwards 
 " this drunken fellow will cause our detection, and 
 we have not a moment to spare." 
 
 " Who s drunk, ye lubber !" muttered the stew 
 ard. 
 
 " A break-jail ! a break-jail !" shouted five or 
 six voices from within. 
 
 " We must leave him," said Edwards. 
 
 " Twouldn t be kind, lad," returned Natty; 
 " he took half the disgrace of the stocks on him 
 self to-day, and the creater has feeling." 
 
 At this moment two or three men were heard 
 issuing from the door of the " Bold Dragoon," and 
 among them the voice of Billy Kirby. 
 
THE PIONEERS. 521 
 
 " There s no moon yet," cried the wood-chop 
 per ; " but it s a clear, moonshiny night. Come, 
 who s for home ? Hark ! what a rumpus they re 
 kicking up in the jail here s go and see what it s 
 about." 
 
 " We shall be lost," said Edwards, " if we don t 
 drop this man." 
 
 At that instant Elizabeth moved close to him, 
 and said rapidly, in a low voice 
 
 " Lay him in the cart, and start the oxen ; no one 
 will look there." 
 
 " By heaven, there s a woman s quickness in 
 the thought," said the youth. 
 
 The proposition was no sooner made than exe 
 cuted. The steward was seated on the hay, and 
 bid to hold his peace, and apply the goad that was 
 placed in his hand, while the oxen were urged on. 
 So soon as this arrangement was completed, Ed 
 wards and the hunter stole along the houses for a 
 short distance, when they disappeared through an 
 opening that led into the rear of the buildings. The 
 oxen were in brisk motion, and presently the cries 
 of pursuit were heard in the street. The ladies 
 quickened their pace, with a wish to escape the 
 crowd of constables and idlers that were approach 
 ing, some execrating, and some laughing at the ex 
 ploit of the prisoners. In the confusion, the voice 
 of Kirby was plainly distinguishable above all the 
 others, shouting and swearing that he would have 
 the fugitives, threatening to bring back Natty in 
 one pocket and Benjamin in the other. 
 
 " Spread yourselves, men," he cried, as he pass 
 ed the ladies, with his heavy feet sounding along 
 .he street like the tread of a dozen ; " spread your 
 selves ; to the mountains ; they ll be in the moun 
 tain* in a quarter of an hour, and then look out for a 
 long rifle." 
 
 44 * 
 
522 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 His cries were echoed from twenty mouths, foi 
 not only the jail, but the taverns had sent fouth their 
 numbers, some earnest in the pursuit, and others 
 joining it as in sport. 
 
 As Elizabeth turned in at her father s gate, she 
 saw the wood-chopper stop at the cart, when she 
 gave Benjamin up for lost. While they were hur 
 rying up the walk, two figures, stealing cautiously 
 but quickly under the shades of the trees, met the 
 eyes of the ladies, and in a moment Edwards and 
 the hunter crossed their path. 
 
 " Miss Temple, I may never see you again," ex 
 claimed the youth ; " let me thank you for all your 
 kindness ; you do not, cannot know, my motives." 
 
 " Fly ! fly !" cried Elizabeth" the village is 
 alarmed. Do not be found conversing with me at 
 such a moment, and in these grounds." 
 
 " Nay, I must speak, though detection were cer 
 tain." 
 
 " Your retreat to the bridge is already cut off; 
 before you can gain the wood your pursuers will 
 be there. If" 
 
 u If what ?" cried the youth. " Your advice has 
 saved me once already ; I will follow it to death." 
 
 " The street is now silent and vacant," said Eli 
 zabeth, after a pause ; " cross it, and you will find 
 my father s boat in the lake. . It would be easy for 
 you to land from it where you pleased in the 
 hills." 
 
 " But Judge Temple might complain of the tres 
 pass." 
 
 " His daughter shall be accountable, sir." 
 
 The youth uttered something in a low voice, that 
 was heard only by Elizabeth, and turned to exe 
 cute what she had suggested. As they were sepa 
 rating, Natty approached the heiress, and said 
 
 " You ll remember the canister of powder, chil- 
 
THE PIONEERS. 523 
 
 dren. Them beavers must be had, and I and the 
 pups be getting old ; we want the best of ammu 
 nition." 
 
 " Come, Natty," said Edwards, impatiently. 
 
 " Coining, lad, coming. God bless you, young 
 ones, both of ye, for ye mean well and kindly to 
 the old man." 
 
 The ladies paused until they lost sight of the re 
 treating figures, when they immediately entered 
 the Mansion-house. 
 
 While this scene was passing in the walk, Kirby 
 had overtaken the cart, which w r as his own, and 
 had been driven by Edwards without asking the 
 owner, from the place where the patient oxen 
 usually stood at evening, waiting the pleasure of 
 their master. 
 
 " Woa come hither, Golden," he cried ; " why, 
 how come you off the end of the bridge, where 1 
 left you, dummies ?" 
 
 " Heave ahead," muttered Benjamin, giving a 
 random blow with his lash, that alighted on the 
 shoulder of the other. 
 
 " Who the devil be you ?" cried Billy, turning 
 round in surprise, but unable to distinguish, in the 
 dark, the hard visage that was just peering over 
 the cart-rails. 
 
 " Who be I ! why Pm helmsman aboard of this 
 here craft, d ye see, and a straight wake Pm mak 
 ing of it. Ay ! ay ! Pve got the bridge right ahead, 
 and the bilboes dead-aft ; I calls thai good steer 
 age, boy. Heave ahead." 
 
 " Lay your lash in the right spot, Mr. Benny 
 Pump," said the wood-chopper, " or Pll put you 
 in the palm of my hand, and box your ears. Where 
 be you going with my team ?" 
 
 " Team !" 
 
 " Ay, my cart and oxen." 
 
524 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 " Why, you must know, Master Kirby, that the 
 Leather-stocking and I that s Benny Pump you 
 knows Ben ? well, Benny and I no, me and 
 Benny ; dam-me if I know how tis ; but some of 
 us are bound after a cargo of beaver-skins, d ye 
 see, and so we ve pressed the cart to ship them 
 ome in. I say, Master Kirby, what a lubberly 
 oar you pull you handle an oar, boy, pretty much 
 as a cow would a musket, or a lady would a mar- 
 ling-spike." 
 
 Billy had discovered the state of the steward s 
 mind, and he walked for some time alongside of 
 the cart, musing with himself, when he took the 
 goad from Benjamin, (who fell back on the hay, 
 and was soon asleep,) and drove his cattle down 
 the street, over the bridge, and up the mountain, 
 towards a clearing in which he was to work the 
 next day, without any other interruption than a 
 few hasty questions from parties of the constables. 
 
 Elizabeth stood for an hour at the window of her 
 room, and saw the torches of the pursuers gliding 
 along the side of the mountain, and heard their 
 shouts and alarms ; but, at the end of that time, the 
 last party returned, wearied and disappointed, and 
 the village became again still as when she issued 
 from the gate on her mission to the jail. 
 
CHAPTER XXXVI. 
 
 And I could weep th* Oneida clue. 
 
 His descant wildly thus begun 
 But that 1 may not stain with grief 
 
 The death song of my father s son. " 
 
 Gertrude if Wyoming 
 
 IT was yet early on the following morning, when 
 Elizabeth arid Louisa met by appointment, and 
 proceeded to the store of Monsieur Le Quoi, in 
 order to redeem the pledge that the former had 
 given to the Leather-stocking. The people were 
 again assembling for the business of the day, but 
 the hour was too soon for a crowd, and the ladies 
 found the place in possession only of its polite 
 owner, Billy Kirby, one female customer, and the 
 boy who did the duty of helper or clerk. 
 
 Monsieur Le Quoi was perusing a packet of let 
 ters with manifest delight, while the wood-chop 
 per, with one hand thrust into his bosom, and the 
 other in the folds of his jacket, holding an axe un 
 der his right arm, stood sympathizing in the French 
 man s pleasure with a good-natured interest. The 
 freedom of manners that prevailed in the new set 
 tlements, commonly levelled all difference in rank, 
 and with it, frequently, all considerations of educa 
 tion and intelligence. At the time the ladies en- 
 
526 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 tered the stoi^e, they were unseen by the ownt.<r, 
 who was saying to Kirby 
 
 " Ah ! ha ! Monsieur Beel, dis lettair mak-a me 
 de most happi of mans. Ah ! ma chere France ! 1 
 vill see you aga n." 
 
 " I rejoice, Monsieur, at any thing that eontri. 
 butes to your happiness," cried Elizabeth, " but 
 must hope we are not going to lose you entirely." 
 
 " Ah ! Ma mselle Tempi ! vat honneur I feel to 
 me ; mais I ave lettair, dat mak-a mon coeur sautez 
 de joie. Ah ! Ma mselle TempP, if you ave pere, 
 ave mere, ave leetP Jean-tone, vy you don t 
 and de ladi a pins, eh ! if you aye amis beeg and 
 leetP you voud be glad to go back. Attendez vous, 
 Ma mselle, si vous plais ; je vous lirai. A Monsieur 
 Monsieur Le Quoi, de Mersereau a Templetone, 
 Noo Yorck, les Etats Unis d Amerique. Tres 
 cher ami. Je suis ravis" 
 
 " I apprehend that my French is not equal to 
 your letter, Monsieur," said Elizabeth, glancing 
 her eye expressively at her companion ; " will you 
 favour us with its substance in English ?" 
 
 " Oh ! pardonnez moi I ave been so long 
 from Paris dat I do forget de a a a pronun- 
 shasshong. You will ave consideration pour moi, 
 and vill excusez my read in France," returned the 
 polite Gaul, bowing w r ith deep humility, as if la 
 menting his ignorance of his own language ; " mais 
 I shall tell you en bon Anglois. I ave offeece a 
 Paris, in Bureau, dans le temps du bon Louis ; 1 
 fly ; run avay to sav-a my ead. I ave in Mar 
 tinique von leetP plantation pour sucre ah ! ha ! 
 vat you call in dis countray ah ! ha ! Monsieui 
 Beel, vat you call de place vere you vork-a ? eh r" 
 
 " Clearing," said the wood-chopper, with a kind 
 
THE PIONEERS. 527 
 
 ct No, no, clear vere you burn-a my troat, eh !" 
 
 Billy hitched up his shoulder, and turned his 
 eyes askance at the ladies, with a broad grin on his 
 face, as he answered 
 
 u I guess tis a sugar-bush that the Mounsheer 
 means ; but you musn t take that to heart, man ; 
 tis the law of the woods." 
 
 " Ah ! coquin, I pardonne you," returned the 
 Frenchman, placing his hand involuntarily on his 
 throat " diable ! de law should be altair. Mais, I 
 ave sucre-boosh in Martinique : I fly dere too ; 
 I come ici ; votre pere help-a-me ; I grow reech 
 yais ! I grow reech ; mais I ave not France ! 
 L Assemblee Nationale pass von edict" 
 
 " What s that ?" interrupted Billy, who was en 
 deavouring, with much interest, to comprehend the 
 story. 
 
 " Eh ! vat dat ? vy vat you call, ven de Assem- 
 blee d Alban mak-a de law ?" 
 
 " That s an act of the Legyslatoore," said Kir- 
 by, with the readiness of an American on such a 
 subject. 
 
 " Veil ! dis vas act of Legyslatoore, to restorer 
 my land ; my charactair ; my sucre-boosh ; and ma 
 country. Ah ! Ma mselle Tempi , je suis enchan- 
 tie ! mais I ave grief to leav-a you ; Oh ! yais ! I 
 ave grief ver mooch." 
 
 The amount of all this was, that Mr. Le Quoi, 
 who had fled from his own country more through 
 terror than because he was offensive to the ruling 
 powers in France, had succeeded at length in get 
 ting an assurance, that his return to the West-In 
 dies would be unnoticed ; and the Frenchman, 
 who had sunk into the character of a country 
 shop-keeper, with so much grace, was about to 
 emerge again from his obscurity into nis proper 
 level in society. 
 
528 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 We need not repeat the civil things that passed 
 between the parties on this occasion, nor lecount 
 the endless repetitions of sorrow that the delighted 
 Frenchman expressed, at being compelled to quit 
 the society of Miss Temple. Elizabeth took an 
 opportunity, during this expenditure oi polite ex 
 pressions, to purchase the powder privately of the 
 boy, who bore the generic appellation of Jonathan. 
 Before they parted, however, Mr. Le Quoi, who 
 seemed to think that he had not said enough, so 
 licited the honour of a private interview with the 
 heiress, with a gravity in his air that announced the 
 importance of the subject. After conceding the 
 favour, and appointing a more favourable time for 
 the meeting, Elizabeth succeeded in getting out of 
 the store, into which the countrymen now began 
 to enter, as usual, where they met with the same 
 attention and bienseance as formerly. 
 
 Elizabeth and Louisa pursued their walk as far 
 as the bridge in profound silence, but when they 
 reached that place, the latter stopped, and appeared 
 anxious to utter something that her feelings sup 
 pressed. 
 
 " Are you ill, Louisa ?" exclaimed Miss Tem 
 ple ; " had we not better return, and seek another 
 opportunity to meet the old man ?" 
 
 " Not ill, but terrified. Oh ! I never, never 
 can go on that hill again with you only. I am not 
 equal to it, indeed I am not." 
 
 This was an unexpected declaration to Eliza 
 beth, who, although she experienced no idle ap 
 prehensions of a danger that no longer existed, felt 
 most sensitively all the delicacies of maiden mo 
 desty. She stood for some time, deeply reflecting 
 within herself, the colour gradually gathering over 
 her features at her own thoughts ; but, as if sen 
 sible that it was a time for action instead of re- 
 
THE PIONEERS. 529 
 
 flection, she struggled to shake off her hesitation, 
 and replied firmly 
 
 " Well, then it must be done by me, and alone. 
 There is no other than yourself to be trusted, or 
 poor old Leather-stocking will be discovered. 
 Wait for me in the edge of these woods, that at 
 least I may not be seen strolling in the hills by 
 myself just now. One would not wish to create 
 remarks, Louisa if if You will wait for me, 
 dear girl ?" 
 
 " A year, in sight of the village, Miss Temple," 
 returned the agitated Louisa, " but do not, do not 
 ask me to go on that hill." 
 
 Elizabeth found that her companion was really 
 unable to proceed, and they completed their ar 
 rangement by posting Louisa out of the observa 
 tion of the people who occasionally passed, but 
 nigh to the road, and in plain view of the whole 
 valley. Miss Temple then proceeded alone. She 
 ascended the road which has been so often men 
 tioned in our narrative, with an elastic and firm 
 step, fearful that the delay in the store of Mr. Le 
 Quoi, and the time necessary for reaching the sum 
 mit, would prevent her being punctual to the ap 
 pointment. Whenever she passed an opening in 
 the bushes , she would pause for breath, or, per 
 haps, drawn from her pursuits by the picture at her 
 feet, would linger a moment to gaze at the beauties 
 of the valley. The long drought had, however, 
 changed its coat of verdure to a hue of brown, and, 
 though the same localities were there, the view- 
 wanted the lively and cheering aspect of early 
 summer. Even the heavens seemed to share in 
 the dried appearance of the earth, for the sun was 
 concealed by a haziness in the atmosphere, which 
 looked like a thin smoke without a particle of 
 moisture, if such a thing were possible. The blue 
 45 
 
530 THE PION1-.ERS. 
 
 sky was scarcely to be seen, though now and then 
 there was a faint lighting up in spots, through which 
 masses of rolling vapour could be discerned ga 
 thering around the horizon, as if nature were strug 
 gling to collect her floods for the relief of man. 
 The very atmosphere that Elizabeth inhaled was 
 hot and dry, and by the time she reached the point 
 where the course led her from the highway, she 
 experienced a sensation like suffocation. But, dis 
 regarding her feelings, the heiress hastened to ex 
 ecute her mission, dwelling in her thoughts on no 
 thing but the disappointment, and even the help 
 lessness, the hunter would experience, without her 
 aid. 
 
 On the summit of the mountain which Judge 
 Temple had named the " Vision," a little spot had 
 been cleared, in order that a better view might be 
 obtained of the village and the valley. It was at 
 this point that Elizabeth understood the hunter she 
 was to meet him ; and thither she urged her way, 
 as expeditiously as the difficulty of the ascent and 
 the impediments of a forest in a state of nature 
 would admit. Numberless were the fragments of 
 rocks, trunks of fallen trees, and branches, that she 
 had to contend against ; but every di$culty va 
 nished before her resolution, and, by her own 
 watch, she stood on the desired spot several mi 
 nutes before the appointed hour. 
 
 After resting a moment on the end of a log, Miss 
 Temple cast a scrutinizing glance about her in 
 quest of her old friend, but he was evidently not 
 in the clearing ; when she arose and walked around 
 its skirts, examining every place where she thought 
 it probable Natty might deem it prudent to con 
 ceal himself. Her search was fruitless , and, af 
 ter exhausting not only herself, but her thoughts, 
 in efforts to discover or imagine his situation. 
 
THE PIONEERS. 53] 
 
 she ventured to trust her voice in that solitary 
 place. 
 
 " Natty ! Leather-stocking ! old man f " she call 
 ed aloud, in every direction ; but no answer was 
 given, excepting the reverberations of her own 
 clear tones, as they were echoed in the parched 
 forest. 
 
 While calling, Elizabeth gradually approached 
 the brow of the mountain, where a faint cry, like 
 the noise produced by striking the hand against the 
 mouth, at the same time that the breath is strongly 
 exhaled, was heard, answering to her own voice. 
 Not doubting in the least, that it was the Leather- 
 stocking lying in wait for her, and who gave that 
 signal to indicate the place where he was to be 
 found, Elizabeth descended for near a hundred 
 feet, until she gained a little natural terrace, thinly 
 scattered with trees, that grew in the fissures of 
 the rocks, which were covered by a scanty soil. 
 She had advanced to the edge of this platform, 
 and was gazing over the perpendicular precipice 
 that formed its face, when a rustling among the 
 dry leaves near her drew her eyes in another di 
 rection. Miss Temple certainly was startled by 
 the object that she then saw, but a moment re 
 stored her self-possession, and she advanced firm 
 ly, and with some interest in her manner, to the 
 spot. 
 
 On the trunk of a fallen oak Mohegan was seat 
 ed, with his tawny visage turned towards her, and 
 his glaring eyes fixed on her face with an expres 
 sion of wildness and fire, that would have terrified 
 a less resolute female. His blanket had fallen from 
 his shoulders, and was lying in folds around him, 
 leaving his breast, arms, and most of his body bare. 
 The medallion of Washington reposed on his chest, 
 a badge of distinction that Elizabeth well knew ho 
 
532 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 only produced on great and solemn occasions. But 
 the whole appearance of the aged chief was more 
 studied than common, and was in some particulars 
 terrific. The long black hair was plaited on his 
 head, falling either way so as to expose his high 
 forehead and piercing eyes, without their usual 
 shading. In the enormous incisions of his ears 
 were entwined ornaments of silver, beads, and por 
 cupine s quills, mingled in a rude taste, and after 
 the Indian fashions. A large drop, composed of 
 similar materials, was suspended from the cartilage 
 of his nose, and, falling below his lips, rested on 
 his chin. Streaks of red paint crossed his wrin 
 kled brow, and were traced down either cheek, 
 with such variations in the lines as caprice or cus 
 tom suggested. His body was also coloured in the 
 same manner ; the whole exhibiting an Indian war 
 rior prepared for some event of more than usual 
 moment. 
 
 " John ! how fare you, worthy John ?" said Eli 
 zabeth, as she approached him ; " you have long 
 been a stranger in the village. You promised me 
 a willow basket, and I have had a shirt of calico in 
 readiness for you this month past." 
 
 The Indian looked steadily at her for some time 
 without answering, and then, shaking his head, he 
 replied, in his low, guttural tones 
 
 " John s hand can make baskets no more he 
 wants no shirt." 
 
 " But if he should, he will know where to come 
 for it," returned Miss Temple. " Indeed, old John, 
 I feel as if you had a natural right to order what 
 you will from us." 
 
 " Daughter," said the Indian. " listen : Six 
 times ten hot summers have passed, since John was 
 young ; tall like a pine ; straight like the bullet of 
 Hawk-eye ; strong as the buffalo ; spry as the cat 
 
THE PIONEERS. 533 
 
 of the mountain. He was strong, and a warrior 
 like the Young Eagle. If his tribe wanted to track 
 the Maquas for many suns, the eye of Chin- 
 gachgook found the print of their moccasins. If 
 the people feasted and were glad as they counted 
 the scalps of their enemies, it was on his pole they 
 hung. If the squaws cried because there was no 
 meat for their children, he was the first in the 
 chase. His bullet was swifter than the deer. 
 Daughter, then Chingachgook struck his tomahawk 
 into the trees ; it was to tell the lazy ones where 
 to find him and the Mingoes but he made no 
 baskets." 
 
 " Those times have gone by, old warrior," re 
 turned Elizabeth ; " since then, your people have 
 disappeared, and in place of chasing your enemies, 
 ycu have learned to fear God and to live at peace." 
 
 " Stand here, daughter, where you can see the 
 great spring, the wigwams of your father, and the 
 land on the crooked-river. John was yet young, 
 when his tribe gave away the country, in council, 
 from where the blue mountain stands above the 
 water, to where the Susquehannah is hid by the 
 trees. All this, and all that grew in it, and all that 
 walked over it, and all that fed there, they gave to 
 the Fire-eater for they loved him. He was 
 strong, and they were women, and he helped them. 
 No Delaware would kill a deer that run in his 
 woods, nor stop a bird that flew over his land ; for 
 it was his. Has John lived in peace ? Daughter, 
 since John was young, he has seen the white man 
 from Frontinac come down on his white brothers 
 at Albany, and fight. Did they fear God? He 
 has seen his English and his American Fathers 
 burying their tomahawks in each other s brains, 
 for this very land. Did they fear God, and live in 
 peace ? He has seen the land pass away from the 
 45* 
 
534 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 Fire-eater, and his children, and the child of his 
 child, and a new chief set over the country. Did 
 they live in peace who did this? did they fear 
 God?" 
 
 " Such is the custom of the whites, John. Do 
 not the Delawares fight, and trade their lands for 
 powder, and blankets, and merchandise ?" 
 
 The Indian turned his dark eyes on the heiress, 
 and kept them there, with a scrutiny that alarmed 
 her a little, as he replied, in a louder and more 
 animated voice 
 
 " Where are the blankets and merchandise that 
 bought the right of the Fire-eater ? are they with 
 him in his wigwam ? Did they say to him, Bro 
 ther, sell us your land, and take this gold, this 
 silver, these blankets, these rifles, or even this 
 rum, for it ? No ; they tore it from him, as a scalp 
 is torn from an enemy ; and they that did it looked 
 not behind them, to see whether he lived or died. 
 Do such men live in peace, and fear the Great 
 Spirit ?" 
 
 " But you hardly understand the circumstances, 71 
 said Elizabeth, more embarrassed than she would 
 own, even to herself. " If you knew our laws and 
 customs better, you would judge differently of our 
 acts. Do not believe evil of my father, old Mo- 
 hegan, for he is just and good." 
 
 " The brother of Miquon is good, and he will 
 do right. I have said it to Hawk-eye I have said 
 it to the Young Eagle, that the brother of Miquon 
 would do justice." 
 
 " Whom call you the Young Eagle ?" said Eli 
 zabeth, averting her face from the gaze of the In 
 dian as she asked the question \ " whence comes 
 he, and what are his rights ?" 
 
 " Has my daughter lived so long with him, to 
 ask this question ?" returned the Indian, warily- 
 
THE PIONEERS. 535 
 
 w Old age freezes up the blood, as the frosts cover 
 the great spring in winter ; but youth keeps the 
 streams of the blood open, like a sun in the time 
 of blossoms. The Young Eagle has eyes ; had he 
 no tongue ?" 
 
 The loveliness to which the old warrior alluded 
 was in no degree diminished by his allegorical 
 speech; for the blushes of the maiden who lis 
 tened, covered her burning cheeks, till her dark 
 eyes seemed to glow with their reflection ; but, 
 after struggling a moment with her shame, she 
 laughed, as if unwilling to understand him seri 
 ously, and replied in a tone of pleasantry 
 
 " Not to make me the mistress of his secret. 
 He is too much of a Delaware, to tell his secret 
 thoughts to a woman." 
 
 " Daughter, the Great Spirit made your father 
 with a white skin, and he made mine with a red ; 
 but he coloured both their hearts with blood. 
 When young, it is swift and warm ; but when old, 
 it is still and cold. Is there difference below the 
 skin ? No. Once John had a woman. She was 
 the mother of so many sons" he raised his hand 
 with three fingers elevated " and she had daugh 
 ters that would have made the young Delawares 
 happy. She was kind, daughter, and what I said 
 she did. You have different fashions ; but do you 
 think John did not love the wife of his youth the 
 mother of his children !" 
 
 " And what has become of your family, John, 
 your wife and your children ?" asked Elizabeth, 
 touched by the melancholy of the Indian s man 
 ner. 
 
 u Where is the ice that covered the great spring ? 
 It is melted, and gone with the waters. John has 
 lived till all his people have left him for the land 
 of spirits ; but his time has come, and he is ready." 
 
536 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 Mohegan dropped his head in his blanket, and 
 sat in silence. Miss Temple knew not what to 
 say. She wished to draw the thoughts of the old 
 warrior from his gloomy recollections, but there 
 was a dignity in his sorrow, and in his fortitude, 
 that repressed her efforts to speak again, for some 
 time. After a long pause, however, she renewed 
 the discourse, by asking 
 
 " Where is the Leather-stocking, John ? this 
 canister of powder I have brought at his request; 
 but he is nowhere to be seen. Will you take 
 charge of it, and see it delivered ?" 
 
 The Indian raised his head slowly, and looked 
 earnestly at the gift of the heiress, which she put 
 in his hand. 
 
 " This is the great enemy of my nation. With 
 out this, when could the white men drive the De- 
 lawares ! Daughter, the Great Spirit gave your 
 fathers to know how to make guns and powder, 
 that they might sweep the Indians from the land. 
 There will soon be no red-skin in the country. 
 When John has gone, the last will leave these hills, 
 and all his family will be dead." The aged war 
 rior stretched his body forward, leaning his elbow 
 on his knee, and appeared to be taking a parting 
 look at the objects of the vale, which were still 
 visible through the misty atmosphere ; though the 
 air seemed to thicken at each moment around Miss 
 Temple, who became conscious of an increased 
 difficulty of respiration. The eye of Mohegan 
 changed gradually from its sorrowful expression 
 to a look of wildness, that might be supposed tc 
 border on the inspiration of a prophet, as he con 
 tinued " But he will go to the country where his 
 fathers have met. The game shall be plenty as 
 the fish in the lakes. No woman shall cry for 
 meat. No Mingo can ever come. The chase shall 
 
THE PIONEERS. 537 
 
 be for children, and all just red-men shall live to 
 gether as brothers." 
 
 "John ! this is not the heaven of a Christian !" 
 cried Miss Temple ; " you deal now in the super 
 stition of your forefathers." 
 
 " Fathers ! sons !" said Mohegan with firmness 
 " all gone all gone ! I have no son but the 
 Young Eagle, and he has the blood of a white man." 
 
 " Tell rne, John," said Elizabeth, willing to 
 draw his thoughts to other subjects, and at the 
 same time yielding to her own secret interest in 
 the youth ; " who is this Mr. Edwards ? why are 
 you so fond of him, and whence does he come ?" 
 
 The Indian started at the question, which evi 
 dently recalled his recollection to the earth, and, 
 taking her hand, he drew Miss Temple to a seat 
 beside him, and pointed to the country beneath 
 them, before he answered 
 
 " See, daughter," he said, directing her looks 
 towards the north ; " as far as your young eyes can 
 see, was the land of his" 
 
 But immense volumes of smoke at that moment 
 rolled over their heads, and, whirling in the ed 
 dies formed by the mountains, interposed a barrier 
 to their sight, while he was speaking. Startled by 
 this circumstance, Miss Temple sprung on her feet, 
 and turning her eyes toward the summit of the moun 
 tain, she beheld it covered by a similar canopy, 
 while a roaring sound was heard in the forest above 
 her, like the rushing of furious winds. 
 
 " What means it, John !" she exclaimed ; " we 
 are enveloped in smoke, and I feel a heat like the 
 glow of a furnace." 
 
 Before the Indian could reply, a voice was heard, 
 crying in the woods, with a painful anxiety 
 
 " John ! where are you, old Mohegan ! the 
 
THK J 
 
 woods are on fire, and you have but a few minutes 
 tor escape." 
 
 The chief put his hand before his mouth, and 
 making it play on his lips, produced the kind of 
 noise that had attracted Elizabeth to the place, 
 when a quick and hurried step was heard dashing 
 through the dried underbrush and bushes, and pre 
 sently Edwards rushed to his side, with horroi 
 painted in every feature. 
 
CHAPTER XXXVII. 
 
 M Love rules the court, the camp, the grove." 
 
 Lay of the Last Min&trel. 
 
 " IT would have been sad indeed, to lose you in 
 such a manner, my old friend," said Oliver, catch 
 ing his breath for utterance. Up and away ! even 
 now we may be too late; the flames are circling 
 round the point of the rock below, and, unless we 
 can pass there, our only chance must be over the 
 precipice. Away ! away ! shake off your apathy, 
 John, for now is the time of need." 
 
 Mohegan pointed towards Elizabeth, who, for 
 getting her danger, had shrunk back to a projec 
 tion of the rock, so soon as she recognised the 
 sounds of Edward s voice, and said with something 
 like awakened animation 
 
 " Save her leave John to die." 
 
 " Her ! whom mean you ?" cried the youth, 
 turning quickly to the place the other indicated ; 
 but when he saw the figure of Elizabeth, bend 
 ing toward him in an attitude that powerfully spoke 
 her terror, blended with her reluctance to meet 
 him in such a place, the shock for a moment de 
 prived him of speech. 
 
 " Miss Temple !" he cried, when he found 
 words ; " you here ! is such a death reserved for 
 you !" 
 
540 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 " No, no, no no death, I hope, for any of us, 
 Mr. Edwards," she replied, endeavouring to speak 
 calmly, and rallying her thoughts for the emergen 
 cy. " There is smoke, but still no fire to harm us. 
 Let us endeavour to retire." 
 
 " Take my arm," said Edwards ; " there must 
 be an opening in some direction for your retreat. 
 Are you equal to the effort ?" 
 
 " Certainly. You surely magnify the danger, 
 Mr. Edwards. Lead me out the way you came." 
 
 " I will I will," cried the youth, with a kind 
 of hysterical utterance. " No, no there is no 
 danger I have alarmed you unnecessarily." 
 
 " But shall we leave the Indian can we leave 
 him here, as he says, to die ?" 
 
 An expression of painful emotion crossed the face 
 of the young man, who stopped, and cast a longing 
 look at Mohegan ; but, dragging his companion after 
 him, even against her will, he pursued his way, 
 with enormous strides, toward the pass by which 
 he had just entered the circle of flame. 
 
 " Do not regard him," he said, in those horrid 
 tones that denote a desperate calmness ; " he is 
 used to the woods, and such scenes ; he will escape 
 up the mountain over the rock or he can remain 
 where he is in safety." 
 
 " You thought not so this moment, Edwards ! - 
 Do not leave him there to meet with such a death," 
 cried Elizabeth, fixing a look on the countenance 
 of her conductor, that seemed to distrust his sa 
 nity. 
 
 " An Indian burn F who ever heard of an Indian 
 dying by fire ? an Indian cannot burn ; the idea is 
 ridiculous. Hasten, hasten, Miss Temple, or the 
 smoke may incommode you." 
 
 " Edwards ! your look, your eye, terrifies me ! 
 
THE PIONEERS. 
 
 tell me the danger ; is it greater than it seems ? I 
 am equal to any trial." 
 
 " If we reach the point of yon rock before that 
 sheet of fire, we are safe, Miss Temple !" exclaim 
 ed the young man, in a voice that hurst without 
 the bounds of his forced composure. " Fly ! the 
 struggle is for your life !" 
 
 The place of the interview between Miss Tem 
 ple and the Indian has been already described as 
 one of those platforms of rock, which form a sort of 
 terrace in the mountains of that country, and the 
 face of it, we have said, was both high and per 
 pendicular. Its shape was nearly a natural arc, the 
 ends of which blended with the mountain, at points 
 where its sides were less abrupt in their descent. 
 It was round one of these terminations of the sweep 
 of the rock that Edwards had ascended, and it was 
 toward the same place that he urged Elizabeth to 
 a desperate exertion of her speed. 
 
 Immense clouds of white smoke had been pour 
 ing over the summit of the mountain, and had con 
 cealed the approach and ravages of the element ; 
 but a crackling sound drew the eyes of Miss Tem 
 ple, as she flew over the ground, supported by the 
 young man, towards the outline of smoke, where 
 she already perceived the waving flames shooting 
 forward from the vapour, now flaring high in the 
 air, and then bending to the earth, seeming to light 
 into combustion every stick and shrub on which 
 they breathed. The sight aroused them both to 
 redoubled efforts ; but, unfortunately, there was a 
 collection of the tops of trees, old and dried, which 
 lay directly across their course ; and, at the very 
 moment when both had thought their safety en 
 sured, an eddying of the warm currents of the air 
 swept a forked tongue of flame across the pile, 
 which lighted at the touch ; and when thev reach- 
 46 
 
042 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 ed the spot, the flying pair were opposed by the 
 surly roaring of a body of fire, as if a furnace were 
 glowing in their path. They recoiled from the 
 heat, and stood on a point of the rock, gazing in a 
 sort of stupor at the flames, which were spreading 
 rapidly down the mountain, whose side soon be 
 came a sheet of living fire. It was dangerous for 
 one clad in the light and airy dress of Elizabeth to 
 approach even to the vicinity of the raging ele 
 ment ; and those flowing robes, that gave such 
 softness and grace to her form, seemed now to be 
 formed for the instruments of her destruction. 
 
 The villagers were accustomed to resort to that 
 hill in quest of timber and fuel ; in procuring which, 
 it was their usage to take only the bodies of the 
 trees, leaving the tops and branches to decay under 
 the operations of the weather. Much of the hill 
 was, consequently, covered with such light fuel for 
 the flames, which, having been scorching under the 
 sun for the last two months, ignited with a touch. 
 Indeed, in some cases, there did not appear to be 
 any contact between the fire and these piles, but 
 the flames seemed to dart from heap to heap, as 
 the fabulous fire of the temple is represented to 
 relumine its neglected lamp. 
 
 There w r as beauty as well as terror in the sight, 
 and Elizabeth and the youth stood viewing the 
 progress of the desolation, with a strange mixture 
 of horror and interest. Edwards, however, short 
 ly roused himself to new exertions, and drawing 
 his companion after him, they skirted the edge of 
 the smoke, the young man penetrating frequently 
 into its dense volumes in search of a passage, but 
 in every instance without success. In this man 
 ner they proceeded in a semicircle around the up 
 per part of the terrace, until, arriving at the verge 
 of the precipice, opposite to the point where Ed- 
 
THE PIONEERS 543 
 
 wards had ascended, the horrid conviction burst 
 on both at the same instant, that they were com 
 pletely encircled by the fire. So long as a single 
 pass up or down the mountain was unexplored, 
 hope had invigorated them with her secret influ 
 ence ; but when retreat seemed to be absolutely 
 impracticable, the horror of their situation broke 
 upon Elizabeth as powerfully as if she had hither 
 to considered the danger nothing. 
 
 " This mountain is doomed to be fatal to me !" 
 she whispered, rather than uttered aloud ; " we 
 shall find our graves on it !" 
 
 " Say not so, Miss Temple ; there is yet hope," 
 returned the youth, in the same tone, while the 
 vacant, horrid expression of his eye contradicted 
 his words ; " let us return to the point of the rock ; 
 there is, there must be, some place about it where 
 we can descend." 
 
 " Lead me there," exclaimed Elizabeth ; " let 
 us leave no effort untried." She did not wait for 
 his compliance, but, turning, retraced her steps to 
 the brow of the precipice, murmuring to herself, 
 in suppressed, hysterical sobs, " My father ! my 
 poor, my distracted father !" 
 
 Edwards was by her side in an instant, and with 
 aching eyes he examined into every fissure in the 
 crags, in quest of some opening that might offer 
 the facilities of flight. But the smooth, even sur 
 face of the rocks afforded hardly a resting place 
 for a foot, much less those continued projections 
 which would have been necessary for a descent of 
 nearly a hundred feet. Edwards was not slow in 
 feeling the conviction that this hope was also fu 
 tile, and, with a kind of feverish despair, that still 
 urged him to action, he turned to some new expe 
 dient. 
 
544 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 " There is nothing left, Miss Temple," he said, 
 in a hollow accent, " but to lower you from this 
 place to the rock beneath. If Natty were here, 
 or even that Indian could be roused, their ingenui 
 ty and long practice would easily devise methods 
 by which to do it ; but I am a child, at this mo 
 ment, in every thing but daring. Where shall I 
 find means ? This dress of mine is so light, and 
 there is so little of it then the blanket of Mohe- 
 gan We must try we must try any thing is 
 better than to see you a victim to such a death !" 
 
 " And what shall become of you !" said Eliza 
 beth. " Indeed, indeed, neither you nor John 
 must be the sacrifice to my safety." 
 
 He heard her not, for he was already by the 
 side of Mohegan, who yielded his blanket without 
 a question, retaining his seat with Indian dignity 
 and composure, though his own situation was even 
 more critical than that of the others. The blanket 
 was cut into shreds, and the fragments fastened to 
 gether ; the loose linen jacket of the youth, and 
 the light muslin shawl of Elizabeth, were attached 
 to them, and the whole thrown over the rocks, 
 with the rapidity of lightning ; but the united 
 pieces did not reach half way to the bottom. 
 
 " It will not do it will not do !" cried Eliza 
 beth ; " for me there is no hope ! The fire comes 
 slowly, but certainly. See ! it destroys the very 
 earth before it !" 
 
 Had the flames spread on that rock with half the 
 quickness with which they leaped from bush to 
 tree, in other parts of the mountain, our painful 
 task would have soon ended ; for they would have 
 swept off the victims, who were suffering doubly 
 under the anticipations of their approaching fate. 
 But the peculiarity of their situation afforded Eli- 
 
THE PIONEERS. 545 
 
 zabeth and her companion the respite, of which 
 they availed themselves to make the efforts we 
 have recorded. 
 
 The thin covering of earth over the rock on which 
 they stood supported but a scanty and faded herb 
 age, and most of the trees that had found root in the 
 fissures had already died, during the intense heats 
 of preceding summers. Those which still retained 
 the appearance of life, bore a few dry and wither 
 ed leaves, that were drained of their nourishment ; 
 while the others were merely the wrecks of pines, 
 oaks, and maples. No better materials to feed the 
 fire could be found, had there been a communica 
 tion with the flames ; but the ground was destitute 
 of the leaves and boughs that led the destructive 
 element like a torrent over the remainder of the 
 hill. As auxiliary to this scarcity of fuel, there 
 was one of the large springs which abound in that 
 country, gushing out of the side of the ascent above, 
 which, after creeping sluggishly along the level 
 land, saturating the mossy covering of the rock 
 with moisture, swept round the base of the little 
 cone that formed the pinnacle of the mountain, 
 and, entering the canopy of smoke near one of the 
 terminations of the terrace, found its way to the 
 lake, not by dashing from rock to rock, but by the 
 secret channels of the earth. It would rise to the 
 surface, here and there, in the wet seasons, when 
 it exhibited a mimic torrent, overflowing the ground 
 for some distance ; but in the droughts of summer, 
 it was to be traced only by the bogs and moss that 
 announced the proximity of water. When the fire 
 reached this barrier, it was compelled to pause, un 
 til a concentration of its heat could overcome the 
 moisture, like an army impatiently waiting the ope 
 rations of a battering train, to open its way to death 
 and desolation. 
 
 46* 
 
546 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 That fatal moment seemed now to have arrived; 
 for the hissing streams of the spring appeared to be 
 nearly exhausted, and the moss of the rocks was 
 already curling under the intense heat that was 
 thrown across the little spot of wet ground, while 
 the fragments of bark, that yet clung to the dead 
 trees, began to separate from their trunks, and fall 
 to the ground in crumbling masses. The air seem 
 ed quivering with rays of heat, which might be seen 
 playing along the parched stems of the trees. The 
 excited imagination of Elizabeth, as she stood on 
 the verge of the precipice, and gazed about her, 
 viewing the approach of their powerful enemy, 
 fancied every tree and herb near her on the point 
 of ignition. There were moments when dark 
 clouds of smoke would sweep along the little ter 
 race, and as the eye lost its power, the other 
 senses contributed to give effect to the fearful hor 
 ror of the scene. At such moments, the roaring 
 of the flames, the crackling of the furious element, 
 with the tearing of falling branches, and, occasion 
 ally, the thundering echoes of some prostrated 
 tree, united to alarm the victims. Of the three, 
 however, the youth appeared much the most agi 
 tated. Elizabeth, having relinquished entirely the 
 idea of escape, was fast obtaining that resigned 
 composure, with which the most delicate of her sex 
 are known to meet unavoidable evils ; while Mo- 
 hegan, who was much nearer to the danger, main 
 tained his seat with the invincible resignation of an 
 Indian warrior. Once or twice the eye of the aged 
 chief, which was ordinarily fixed in the direction 
 of the distant hills, turned towards the young pair, 
 who seemed doomed to so early a death, with a 
 slight indication of pity crossing his composed fea 
 tures, but it would immediately revert again to its 
 former gaze, as if already looking into the womb 
 
THE PIONEERS. 547 
 
 of futurity. Much of the time he was chanting a 
 kind of low dirge, in the Delaware tongue, using 
 the deep and remarkably guttural tones of his 
 people. 
 
 " At such a moment, Mr. Edwards, all earthly 
 distinctions end," whispered Elizabeth ; " per 
 suade John to move nearer to us let us die to 
 gether." 
 
 " I cannot he will not stir," returned the youth, 
 in the same horridly still tones. " He considers 
 this as the happiest moment of his life. He is past 
 seventy, and has been decaying; rapidly for some 
 time ; he received some injury- II chasing that un 
 lucky deer, too, on the lake. Oh! Miss Tem 
 ple, that was an unlucky chase indeed ! it has led, 
 I fear, to this awful scene." 
 
 The smile that beamed on the lovely features of 
 Elizabeth was celestial, as she answered in a soft, 
 soothing voice, " Why name such a trifle now at 
 this moment the heart is dead to all earthly emo 
 tions !" 
 
 " If any thing could reconcile a man, in the vi 
 gour and pride of manhood, to this death," cried 
 the youth with fervour, " it would be to meet it 
 in such company !" 
 
 " Talk not so, Edwards, talk not so," interrupt 
 ed Miss Temple, " I am unworthy of it ; and it is 
 unjust to yourself. We must die ; yes yes we 
 must die it is the will of God, and let us endea 
 vour to submit like his own children." 
 
 " Die !" the youth rather shrieked than exclaim 
 ed, " No no there must be hope yet you must 
 not, shall not die." 
 
 " In what way can we escape?" asked Eliza 
 beth, pointing, with a look of heavenly composure, 
 towards the fire " Observe ! the flame is crossing 
 
548 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 the barrier of wet ground it comes slowly, Ed 
 wards, but surely. Ah ! see ! the tree ! the tree 
 is already lighted!" 
 
 Her words were too true. The heat of the con 
 flagration had, at length, overcome the resistance 
 of the spring, and the fire was slowly stealing along 
 the half-dried moss; while a dead pine kindled 
 with the touch of a forked flame, that, for a mo 
 ment, wreathed around the stem of the tree, as it 
 whirled, in one of its evolutions, under the influ 
 ence of the air. The effect was instantaneous and 
 magical. The f^nes danced along the parched 
 trunk of the pinl, like lightning quivering on a 
 chain, and immediately a column of living fire was 
 raging on the terrace. It soon spread from tree to 
 tree, and the scene was evidently drawing to a close. 
 The log on which Mohegan was seated lighted at 
 its farther end, and the Indian appeared to be sur 
 rounded by the fire. Still he was unmoved. As 
 his body was unprotected, his sufferings must have 
 been great, but his fortitude was superior to all, 
 His voice could yet be heard, raising its tones, 
 even in the midst of these horrors. Elizabeth 
 turned her head from the sight, and faced the val 
 ley. Furious eddies of wind were created by the 
 heat, and just at the moment, the canopy of fiery 
 smoke that overhung the valley, was cleared away, 
 leaving a distinct view of the peaceful village be 
 neath them. 
 
 " My father! My father " shrieked Elizabeth. 
 " Oh ! this this surely might have been spared 
 me but I submit." 
 
 The distance was not too great for the figure of 
 Judge Temple to be seen, standing in his own 
 grounds, and apparently contemplating, in perfect 
 unconsciousness of the danger of his child, the 
 
THE PIONEERS. 549 
 
 mountain in flames. This sight was still more 
 painful than the approaching danger ; and Eliza 
 beth again faced the hill. 
 
 " My intemperate warmth has done this !" cried 
 Edwards, in the accents of despair. " If I had pos 
 sessed but a moiety of your heavenly resignation, 
 Miss Temple, all might yet have been well." 
 
 " Name it not name it not," she said. " It is 
 now of no avail. We must die, Edwards, we must 
 die let us do so as Christians. But no you 
 may yet escape, perhaps. Your dress is not so fa 
 tal as mine. Fly! leave me. An opening may 
 yet be found for you, possibly certainly it is worth 
 the effort. Fly ! leave me but stay ! You will 
 see my father ; my poor, my bereaved father ! 
 Say to him, then, Edwards, say to him, all that can 
 appease his anguish. Tell him that I died happy 
 and collected ; that I have gone to my beloved 
 mother ; that the hours of this life are as nothing 
 when balanced in the scales of eternity. Say how 
 we shall meet again. And say," she Continued, 
 dropping her voice, that had risen with her feel 
 ings, as if conscious of her worldly weaknesses, 
 " how dear, how very dear, was my love for him ; 
 that it was near, too near, to my love for God." 
 
 The youth listened to her touching accents, but 
 moved not. In a moment he found utterance, and 
 replied : 
 
 " And is it me that you bid to leave you ! me, 
 to leave you on the edge of the grave ! Oh ! Miss 
 Temple, how little have you known me," he cried, 
 dropping on his knees at her feet, and gathering 
 her flowing robe in his arms, as if to shield her 
 from the flames. " I have been driven to the 
 woods in despair ; but your society has tamed the 
 lion within me. If I have wasted my time in de 
 gradation, twas you that charmed me to it. If I 
 
550 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 have forgotten my name and family, your form sup 
 plied the place of memory. If I have forgotten my 
 wrongs, twas you that taught me charity. No 
 no dearest Elizabeth, I may die with you, but I 
 can never leave you !" 
 
 Elizabeth moved not, nor answered. It was 
 plain that her thoughts had been of heaven. The 
 recollection of her father, and her regrets at their 
 separation, had been mellowed by a holy senti 
 ment, that lifted her above the level of earthly 
 things, and she was fast losing the weakness of her 
 sex, in the near view of eternity. But as the 
 maiden, standing in her extremity, listened to these 
 words, she became once more woman. The blood 
 gathered slowly again in those cheeks, that had, 
 in anticipation of the tyrant s triumph, assumed the 
 livid appearance of death, until they glowed with 
 the loveliness of her beauty. She struggled with 
 herself against these feelings, and smiled, as she 
 thought she was shaking off the last lingering feel 
 ing of her nature, when the world, and all its se 
 ductions, rushed again to her heart, with the sounds 
 of a human voice, crying in piercing tones 
 
 " Gal ! where be ye, gal ! gladden the heart of 
 an old man, if ye yet belong to arth !" 
 
 " List !" said Elizabeth, " tis the Leather-stock 
 ing ; he seeks me !" 
 
 " Tis Natty !" shouted Edwards, springing on 
 his feet, " and we may yet be saved !" 
 
 A wide and circling flame glared on their eyes 
 for a moment, even above the fire of the woods, 
 and a loud report followed, that was succeeded by 
 a comparative stillness* 
 
 " Tis the canister ! tis the powder," cried the 
 same voice, evidently approaching them. " Tis 
 the canister, and the precious child is lost !" 
 
 At the next instant Natty rushed through the 
 
THE PIONEERS. 55 J 
 
 steams of the spring, and appeared on the terrace, 
 without his deer-skin cap, his hair burnt to his heau, 
 his shirt of country check black and filled with 
 holes, and his red features of a deeper colour than 
 ever, by the heat he had encountered. 
 
CHAPTER XXXVIII 
 
 " Even from the land of shadows, now, 
 My father s awful ghost appears." 
 
 Gertrude of Wyoming. 
 
 FOR an hour after Louisa Grant was left by Miss 
 Temple, in the situation already mentioned, she 
 continued in feverish anxiety, awaiting the return 
 of her friend. But as the time passed by without 
 the re-appearance of Elizabeth, the terrors of Lou 
 isa gradually increased, until her alarmed fancy 
 had conjured every species of danger that apper 
 tained to the woods, excepting the one that really 
 existed. The heavens had become obscured, by 
 degrees, and vast volumes of smoke were pouring 
 over the valley ; but the thoughts of Louisa were 
 still recurring to beasts, without dreaming of the 
 real cause for apprehension. She was stationed in 
 the edge of the low pines and chestnuts that suc 
 ceed the first or large growth of the forest, and di 
 rectly above the angle where the highway turned 
 from the straight course to the village, and ascend 
 ed the mountain, laterally. Consequently she 
 commanded a view not only of the valley, but of 
 the road beneath her. The few travellers that 
 passed, she observed, were engaged in earnest 
 
THE PIONEERS. 553 
 
 conversation, and frequently raised theii eyes to 
 the hill, and at length she saw the people leaving 
 the court-house, and gazing upward also. While 
 under the influence of the alarm excited by such 
 unusual movements, reluctant to go, and yet fear 
 ful to remain, Louisa was startled by the low, 
 cracking, but cautious treads, of some one ap 
 proaching through the bushes. She was on the 
 eve of flight, when Natty emerged from the cover, 
 and stood at her side. The old man laughed as 
 he shook her kindly by a hand that was passive 
 with fear, and said 
 
 " I am glad to meet you here, child, for the 
 back of the mountain is a-fire, and it would be 
 dangerous to go up it now, till it has been burnt 
 over once, and the dead wood is gone. There s a 
 foolish man, the comrade of that varmint, who has 
 given me all this trouble, digging for ore on the 
 east side. I told him that the kearless fellows, 
 who thought to catch a practys d hunter in the 
 woods after dark, had thrown the lighted pine knots 
 in the brush, and that twould kindle like tow, and 
 warned him to leave the hill. But he was set up 
 on his business, and nothing short of Providence 
 could move him. If he isn t burnt and buried in a 
 grave of his own digging, he s made of salamanders. 
 Why, what ails the child ! you look as skeary as if 
 you see d more painters ! I wish there was some 
 to be found, they d count up faster than the bea 
 ver. But where s the good child of a bad father ? 
 did she forget her promise to the old man ?" 
 
 " The hill ! the hill !" shrieked Louisa ; " she 
 seeks you on the hill with the powder !" 
 
 Natty recoiled for several feet, at this unexpect 
 ed intelligence, and exclaimed 
 
 i The Lord of Heaven have mercy on her ! She s 
 on the Vision, and that s a sheet of fire ag in this. 
 47 
 
554 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 Child, if ye love the dear one, and hope to find a 
 friend when you need it most, to the village, and 
 give the alarm. The men be us d to fighting fire, 
 and there may be a chance left. Fly ! I bid ye 
 fly ! nor stop even for breath." 
 
 The Leather-stocking had no sooner uttered this 
 injunction, than he disappeared in the bushes, and 
 when last seen by Louisa, was rushing up the 
 mountain with the activity of youth, and with a 
 speed that none but those who were accustomed 
 to the toil could attain. 
 
 " Have I found ye !" the old man exclaimed, 
 when he burst out of the smoke ; " God be prais 
 ed, that I ve found ye ; but follow, there is no time 
 left for talking." 
 
 " My dress !" said Elizabeth ; " it would be fa 
 tal to trust myself nearer to the flames in it." 
 
 " I bethought me of your flimsy things," cried 
 Natty, throwing loose the folds of a covering of 
 buckskin that he carried on his arm, and wrap 
 ping her form in it, in such a manner as to en 
 velope her whole person ; " now follow, for it s 
 a matter of life and death to us all." 
 
 " But John ! what will become of John ?" cried 
 Edwards ; " can we leave the old warrior here to 
 perish ?" 
 
 The eyes of Natty followed the direction of Ed 
 wards finger, when he beheld the Indian, still seat 
 ed as before, with the very earth under his feet 
 consuming with fire. Without delay the hunter 
 approached the spot, and cried in Delaware 
 
 " Up and away, Chingachgook ! will ye stay here 
 to burn, like a tortured Mingo, at the stake ? The 
 Moravians have teached ye better, I hope ; the 
 Lord preserve me if the powder hasn t flashed 
 atween his legs, and the skin of his back is roast 
 ing. Will ye come, I say ? will ye follow ?" 
 
THE PIONEERS. 555 
 
 " Why should Mohegan go ?" returned the In 
 dian, gloomily. " He has seen the days of an ea 
 gle, and his eye grows dim. He looks on the val 
 ley ; he looks on the water ; he looks in the hunt 
 ing-grounds but he sees no Delawares. Every 
 one has a white skin. My fathers say, from the 
 far-off land, come. My women, my young war 
 riors, my tribe, say, come. The Great Spirit says, 
 come. No let Mohegan die." 
 
 " But you forget your friend," cried Edwards. 
 
 " ? Tis useless to talk to an Indian with the death- 
 fit on him, lad," interrupted Natty, who seized the 
 strips of the blanket, and with wonderful dexterity 
 strapped the passive chieftain to his own back ; 
 when he turned, and with a strength that seemed 
 to bid defiance, not only to his years, but to his 
 load, he led the way to the point whence he had 
 issued. Even as they crossed the little terrace of 
 rock, one of the dead trees, that had been totter 
 ing for several minutes, fell on the spot where they 
 had stood, and filled the air with its cinders. 
 
 Such an event quickened the steps of the party, 
 who followed the Leather-stocking with the ur 
 gency required by the occasion. 
 
 " Tread on the soft ground," he cried, when 
 they were in a gloom where sight availed them but 
 little, " and keep in the white smoke ; keep the 
 skin close on her, lad ; she s a precious one, I tell 
 you sich another will be hard to be found." 
 
 Obedient to the hunter s directions, they follow 
 ed his steps and advice implicitly, and although the 
 narrow passage along the winding of the spring led 
 amid burning logs and .falling branches, yet they 
 happily achieved it in safety. No one but a man 
 long accustomed to the woods, could have traced 
 his route through a smoke, in which respiration 
 was difficult^ and sight nearly useless ; but the ex- 
 
556 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 perience of Natty conducted them to an opening 
 through the rocks, where, with a .ittle difficulty, 
 they soon descended to another terrace, and emerg 
 ed at once into a tolerably clear atmosphere. 
 
 The feelings of Edwards and Elizabeth, at reach 
 ing this spot, may be imagined, though not easily 
 described. No one seemed to exult more than 
 their guide, who turned, with Mohegan still lashed 
 to his back, and laughing in his own manner, said 
 
 " I know d twas the Frenchman s powder, gal ; 
 it went so altogether like ; your coarse grain will 
 squib for a minute. The Iroquois had none of the 
 best powder when I went ag in the Canada tribes, 
 under Sir William. Did I ever tell you the story, 
 lad, consarning the skrimmage with" 
 
 ;c For God s sake, tell me nothing now, Natty, 
 until we are entirely safe. Where shall we go 
 next ?" 
 
 " Why, on the platform of rock over the cave, 
 to be sure ; you will be safe enough there, or we ll 
 go into it, if you be so minded." 
 
 The young man started, and appeared agitated 
 with a strong emotion, but, looking around him with 
 an anxious eye, said quickly 
 
 " Shall we be safe on the rock ? cannot the fire 
 reach us there, too ?" 
 
 " Can t the boy see ?" said Natty, with the cool 
 ness of one who was accustomed to the kind of 
 danger he had just encountered. " Had ye staid 
 in the place above ten minutes longer, you w r ould 
 both have been in ashes, but here you may stay 
 for ever, and no fire can touch you, until they 
 burn the rocks as well as the woods." 
 
 With this assurance, which was obviously true, 
 they proceeded to the spot, and Natty deposited 
 his load,^>lacing the Indian on the ground with his 
 back against a fragment of the rocks. Elizabeth 
 
THE PIONEERS. 557 
 
 sunk on the ground, and buried her face in hei 
 hands, while her heart was swelling with a variety 
 of conflicting emotions. 
 
 " Let me urge you to take a restorative, Miss 
 Temple," said Edwards respectfully ; " your frame 
 will sink else." 
 
 " Leave, leave me," she said, raising her beam 
 ing eyes for a moment to his ; " I feel too much 
 for words ! I am grateful, Oliver, for this miracu 
 lous escape ; and next to my God to you." 
 
 Edwards withdrew to the edge of the rock, and 
 shouted " Benjamin ! where are you, Benjamin ?" 
 
 A hoarse voice replied, as if from the bowels of 
 the earth, " Hereaway, master ; stow d in this here 
 bit of a hole, which is all the same as hot as the 
 cook s coppers. I m tired of my birth, d ye see, 
 and if-so-be that Leather-stocking has got much 
 over-hauling to do before he sails after them saicf 
 beaver, I ll go into dock again, and ride out my 
 quarantine till I can get prottick from the law, and 
 so hold on upon the rest of my spaniolas." 
 
 " Bring up a glass of water from the spring," 
 continued Edwards, " and throw a little wine in it ; 
 hasten, I entreat you." 
 
 " I knows but little of your small drink, master 
 Oliver," returned the steward, his voice issuing 
 out of the cave into the open air, " and the Jamai- 
 ky held out no longer than to take a parting kiss 
 with Billy Kirby, when he anchored me alongside 
 the highway last night, where you run me down in 
 the chase. But here s sum mat of a red colour that 
 may suit a weak stomach, mayhap. That master 
 Kirby is no first-rate in a boat, but he ll tack a cart 
 among the stumps, all the same as a Lon on pilot 
 will back and fill through the colliers in the Pool." 
 
 As the steward ascended while talking, by the 
 
 time he had ended his speech, he appeared on the 
 47 * 
 
558 THE PIONI.ERS. 
 
 rock, with the desired restoratives, exhibiting the 
 worn-out and bloated features of a man, who haa 
 run deep in a debauch, and that lately. 
 
 Elizabeth took from the hand of Edwards the 
 liquor which he offered, and then motioned to be 
 left again to herself. 
 
 The youth turned at her bidding, and observed 
 Natty kindly assiduous around the person of Mo- 
 hegan. When their eyes met, the hunter said sor 
 rowfully 
 
 "His time has come, lad ; I see it in his eye ; 
 when an Indian fixes his eye, he means to go but 
 to one place ; and what the wilful creaters put 
 their minds on, they re sure to do." 
 
 A quick tread diverted the reply of the youth, 
 and in a few moments, to the amazement of the 
 whole party, Mr. Grant was seen clinging to the 
 side of the mountain, and striving to reach the 
 place where they stood. Oliver sprang to his as 
 sistance, and by their united efforts the worthy di 
 vine was soon placed safely among them. 
 
 " How came you added to our number ?" cried 
 Edwards. " Is the hill alive with people, at a time 
 like this ? 
 
 The hasty, but pious thanksgivings of the cler 
 gyman were soon ejaculated ; and when he suc 
 ceeded in collecting his bewildered senses he re 
 plied 
 
 " I heard that my child was seen coming to the 
 mountain ; and when the fire broke over its sum 
 mit, my uneasiness drew me up the road, where I 
 found Louisa, in terror for Miss Temple. It was 
 to seek her that I came into this dangerous place ; 
 and I think but for God s mercy, through the dogs 
 of Natty, I should have perished in the flames my 
 self." 
 
 " Ay ! follow the hounds, and if there s an open- 
 
THE PIONEERS. 551) 
 
 ing they ll scent it out," said Natty ; " their noses 
 be given them the same as man s reason." 
 
 " I did so, and they led me to this place ; but, 
 praise be to God, that I see you all safe and well." 
 
 " No, no," returned the hunter ; " safe we be, 
 but as for well, John can t be called in a good way, 
 unless you ll say that for a man that s taking his 
 last look at the arth." 
 
 " He speaks the truth !" said the divine, with 
 the holy awe with which he ever approached the 
 dying ; " I have been by too many death-beds, 
 not to see that the hand of the tyrant is laid on 
 this old warrior. Oh ! how consoling it is, to know 
 that he has not rejected the offered mercy, in the 
 hour of his strength and of worldly temptations ! 
 The offspring of a race of heathens, he has in 
 truth been c as a brand plucked from the burning. " 
 
 " No, no," returned Natty, who alone stood 
 with him by the side of the dying warrior, " it s no 
 burning that ails him, though his Indian feelings 
 made him scorn to move, unless it be the burning 
 of man s wicked thoughts for near fourscore years ; 
 but it s nater giving out in a chase that s run too 
 long. Down with ye, Hector ! down, I say ! 
 Flesh isn t iron, that a man can live for ever, and 
 see his kith and kin driven to a far country, and 
 he left to mourn, with none to keep him company." 
 
 " John," said the divine, tenderly, " do you hear 
 me? do you wish the prayers appointed by the 
 church at this trying moment ?" 
 
 The Indian turned his ghastly face to the speak 
 er, and fastened his dark eyes on him, steadily, 
 but vacantly. No sign of recognition was made ; 
 and in a moment he moved his head again slowly 
 towards the vale, and began to sing, using his own 
 language, in those low, guttural tones, that have 
 been so often mentioned, his notes using with hij? 
 
560 THE PIOAEKKS. 
 
 theme, till they swelled to fulness, if not to har 
 mony : 
 
 ir I will come ! I will come ! to the land of the 
 just I will come ! No Delaware fears his end ; no 
 Mohican shrinks from death ; for the Great Spirit 
 calls, and he goes. My father I have honoured ; I 
 have cherished my mother ; to my tribe I ve been 
 faithful and true. The Maquas I have slain ! I 
 have slain the Maquas ! and the Great Spirit calls 
 to his son. I will come ! I will come ! to the land 
 of the just I will come !" 
 
 " What says he, Leather-stocking ?" inquired 
 the priest, with tender interest ; " sings he the Re 
 deemer s praise ?" 
 
 " No, no, tis his own praise that he speaks 
 now," said Natty, turning in a melancholy manner 
 from the sight of his dying friend ; " and a good 
 right he has to say it all, for I know every word 
 of it to be true." 
 
 " May Heaven avert such self-righteousness 
 from his heart!" exclaimed the divine. "Humility 
 and penitence are the seals of Christianity ; and 
 without feeling them deeply seated in the soul, all 
 hope is delusive, and leads to vain expectations. 
 Praise himself! when his whole soul and body 
 should unite to praise his Maker ! John ! you have 
 enjoyed the blessings of a gospel ministry, and 
 have been called from out a multitude of sinners 
 and pagans, and, I trust, for a wise and gracious 
 Durpose. Do you now feel what it is to be justi 
 fied by our Saviour s death, and reject all weak 
 and idle dependence on good works, that spring 
 from man s pride and vainglory ?" 
 
 The Indian did not regard his interrogator, but 
 he raised his head again, and said, in a low, dis 
 tinct voice 
 
 " Who can say, that the Maquas know the back 
 
THE PIONEERS. 561 
 
 of Mohegan ! What enemy that trusted in him 
 did not see the morning ? What Mingo that he 
 chased ever sung the song of triumph ? Did Mo 
 hegan ever lie ? No ; for the truth lived in him, 
 and none else could come out of him. In his youth, 
 he was a warrior, and his moccasins left the stain 
 of blood. In his age, he was wise ; and his words 
 at the council fin* did not blow away with the 
 winds." 
 
 " Ah ! he has abandoned that vain relic of pa 
 ganism, his songs," cried the good divine ; " what 
 says he now ? is he sensible of his lost state ?" 
 
 " Lord ! man," said Natty, " he knows his ind 
 is at hand as well as you or I, but, so far from 
 thinking it a loss to him, he believes it to be a great 
 gain. He is now old and stiff, and you ve made 
 the game so scearce and shy, that better shots than 
 him find it hard to get a livelihood. Now he thinks 
 he shall travel where it will always be good hunt 
 ing ; where no wicked or unjust Indians can go ; 
 and where he shall meet all his tribe together ag in. 
 There s not much loss in that, to a man whose 
 hands be hardly fit for basket-making. Loss ! if 
 there be any loss, twill be to me. I m sure, after 
 he s gone, there will be but little left for me to do 
 but to follow." 
 
 " His example and end, which, I humbly trust, 
 shall yet be made glorious," returned Mr. Grant, 
 " should lead your mind to dwell on the things of 
 another life. But I feel it to be my duty to smooth 
 the way for the parting spirit. This is the mo 
 ment, John, when the reflection that you did not 
 reject the mediation of the Redeemer, will bring 
 balm to your soul. Trust not to any act of former 
 , days, but lay the burthen of your sins at his feet, 
 and you have his own blessed assurance that he 
 will not desert you." 
 
562 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 " Though all you say be true, and you have 
 scripter gospels for it, too," said Natty, " you will 
 make nothing of the Indian. He hasn t seen a 
 Moravian priest sin the war ; and it s hard to keep 
 them from going back to their native ways. I 
 should think twould be as well to let the old man 
 pass in peace. He s happy now ; I know it by his 
 eye ; and that s more than I would say for the 
 chief, sin the time the Delawares broke up from 
 the head-waters of their river, and went west. 
 Ah s me ! tis a grievous long time that, and many 
 dark days have we both seen together sin it." 
 
 " Hawk-eye !" said Mohegan, rousing with the 
 last glimmering of life. " Hawk-eye ! listen to the 
 words of your brother." 
 
 " Yes, John," said the hunter, in English, strong 
 ly affected by the appeal, and drawing to his side ; 
 " w r e have been brothers ; and more so than it 
 means in the Indian tongue. What would ye have 
 with me, Chingachgook ?" 
 
 " Hawk-eye ! my fathers call me to the happy 
 hunting-grounds. The path is clear, and the eyes 
 of Mohegan grow young. I look but I see no 
 white-skins ; ihere are none to be seen but just 
 and brave Indians. Farewell, Hawk-eye you 
 shall go with the Fire-eater and the Young Eagle^ 
 to the white man s heaven ; but I go after my fa 
 thers. Let the bow, and tomahawk, and pipe, and 
 the wampum of Mohegan, be laid in his grave ; for 
 when he starts twill be in the night, like a warrior 
 on a war-party, and he cannot stop to seek them." 
 
 " What says he, Nathaniel ?" cried Mr. Grant, 
 earnestly, and with obvious anxiety ; " does he 
 recall the promises of the mediation ? and trust his 
 salvation to the Rock of ages ?" 
 
 Although the faith of the hunter was by no 
 means clear, yet the fruits of early instruction had 
 
THE PIONEERS 563 
 
 not entirely fallen in the wilderness. He believed 
 in one God, and one heaven ; and when the strong 
 feeling excited by the leave-taking of his old com 
 panion, which was exhibited by the powerful work 
 ing of every muscle in his weather-beaten face, 
 suffered him to speak, he replied 
 
 " No no he trusts only to the Great Spirit 
 of the savages, and to his own good deeds. He 
 thinks, like all his people, that he is to be young 
 ag in, and to hunt, and be happy to the ind of etar- 
 nity. It s pretty much the same with all colours, 
 parson. I could never bring myself to think, that 
 I shall meet with these hounds, or my piece, in 
 another world ; though the thoughts of leaving 
 them for ever, sometimes brings hard feelings over 
 me, and makes me cling to life with a greater crav 
 ing than beseems threescore-and-ten." 
 
 " The Lord in his mercy avert such a death 
 fromtme who has been sealed with the sign of 
 the cross!" cried the minister, in holy fervour. 
 u John" 
 
 He paused ; for the scene, and the elements, 
 seemed to conspire to oppress the powers of hu 
 manity. During the period occupied by the events 
 which we have related, the dark clouds in the hori 
 zon had continued to increase in numbers and mag 
 nitude ; and the awful stillness that now pervaded 
 the air, announced a crisis in the state of the at 
 mosphere. The flames, which yet continued to 
 rage along the sides of the mountain, no longer 
 whirled in the uncertain currents of their own ed 
 dies, but blazed high and steadily towards the hea 
 vens. There was even a quietude in the ravages 
 of the destructive element, as if it foresaw that 
 a hand, greater than even its own desolating pow 
 er, was about to stay its progress. The piles of 
 smoke which lay above the valley began to rise, 
 
564 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 and were dispelling rapidly ; and streaks of vivid 
 lightning were dancing through the masses of 
 clouds that impended over the western hills. While 
 Mr. Grant was speaking, a flash, which sent its 
 quivering light through the gloom, laying bare the 
 whole opposite horizon, was followed by a loud 
 crash of thunder, that rolled away among the hills, 
 seeming to shake the foundations of the earth to 
 their centre. Mohegan raised himself, as if in obe 
 dience to a signal for his departure, and stretched 
 forth his wasted arm towards the west. His dark 
 face lighted with a look of joy ; which, with all 
 other expression, gradually disappeared ; the mus 
 cles stiffening as they retreated to a state of rest ; 
 a slight convulsion played, for a single instant, 
 about his lips ; and his arm slowly dropped, rigid 
 and motionless, by his side ; leaving the frame of 
 the dead warrior reposing against the rock, with 
 its glassy eyes open, and fixed on the distant hills, 
 as if the deserted shell were tracing the flight of 
 the spirit to its new abode. 
 
 All this Mr. Grant witnessed in silent awe ; but 
 when the last echoes of the thunder died away, he 
 clasped his hands together, with pious energy, and 
 repeated, in the full, rich tones of assured faith 
 
 " O Lord ! how unsearchable are thy judgments : 
 and thy ways past finding out J c I know that my 
 Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the lat 
 ter day upon the earth : And though after my skin, 
 worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I 
 see God : whom I shall see for myself, and mine 
 eyes shall behold, and not another." 3 
 
 As the divine closed this burst of devotion, he 
 bowed his head meekly to his bosom, and looked 
 all the dependence and humility that the inspired 
 language expressed. 
 
 When Mr, Grant retired from the body, the 
 
THE PIONEERS. 
 
 kunter approached, and taking the rigid hand of 
 his friend, looked him wistfully in the face for some 
 time without speaking ; when he gave vent to his 
 feelings by saying, in the mournful voice of one 
 who felt deeply 
 
 " Red skin or white, it s all over now ! He s to 
 be judged by a righteous Judge, and by no laws 
 that s made to suit times, and new ways. Well., 
 there s only one more death, and the world will be 
 left to me and the hounds. Ahs me ! a man must 
 wait the time of God s pleasure, but I begin to 
 weary of my life. There is scarcely a tree stand 
 ing that I know, and it s hard to find a face that I 
 was acquainted with in my younger days." 
 
 Large drops of rain began now to fall, and dif 
 fuse themselves over the dry rock, while the ap 
 proach of the thunder shower was rapid and cer 
 tain. The body of the Indian was hastily removed 
 into the cave beneath, followed by the whining 
 hounds, who missed, and moaned for, the look of 
 intelligence that had always met their salutations 
 to the chief. 
 
 Edwards made some hasty and confused excuse 
 for not taking Elizabeth into the same place, which 
 was now completely closed in front with logs and 
 bark, saying something that she hardly understood 
 about its darkness, and the unpleasantness of be 
 ing with the dead body. Miss Temple, however, 
 found a sufficient shelter against the torrent of rain 
 that fell, under the projection of a rock which 
 over-hung them. But long before the shower was 
 over, the sounds of voices were heard below them 
 crying aloud for Elizabeth, and men soon appear 
 ed, beating the dying embers of the bushes, as they 
 worked their way cautiously among the unextio- 
 guished brands. 
 
 At the first short cessation in the rain, Oliver 
 48 
 
566 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 conducted the heiress to the road, where he left 
 her. Before parting, however, he found time to 
 say, in a fervent manner, that his companion was 
 now at no loss to interpret 
 
 " The moment of concealment is over, Miss 
 Temple. By this time to-morrow, I shall remove 
 a veil that perhaps it has been weakness to keep 
 around me and my affairs so long. But I have had 
 romantic and foolish wishes and weaknesses ; and 
 who has not, that is young and torn by conflicting 
 passions? God bless you! I hear your father s 
 voice ; he is coming up the road, and I would not, 
 just now, subject myself to detention. Thank 
 Heaven, you are safe again, and that alone removes 
 the weight of a world from my spirit !" 
 
 He waited for no answer, but sprang into the 
 woods. Elizabeth, notwithstanding she heard the 
 piercing cries of her father as he called upon her 
 name, paused until he was concealed among the 
 smoking trees, when she turned, and in a moment 
 rushed into the arms of her half-distracted parent. 
 
 A carriage had been provided, to remove her 
 body, living or dead, as Heaven had directed her 
 fate, into which Miss Temple hastily entered ; 
 when the cry was passed along the hill, that the 
 lost one was found, and the people returned to the 
 village, wet and dirty, but elated with the thought 
 that the daughter of their landlord had escaped 
 from so horrid and untimely an end. 
 
CHAPTER XXXIX. 
 
 11 Seliclar ! unsheath then our chiefs scimetar ; 
 Tambourgi ! thy larum gives promise of war ; 
 Ye mountains ! that see us descend to the shore, 
 Shall view us victors, or view us no more. 1 
 
 Byrni. 
 
 THE heavy showers that prevailed during the 
 remainder of the day, completely stopped the pro 
 gress of the flames ; though glimmering fires were 
 observed during the night, on different parts of the 
 hill, wherever there was a collection of fuel to feed 
 the element. The next day the woods, for many 
 miles, were black and smoking, and were stript of 
 every vestige of brush and dead wood ; but the 
 pines and hemlocks still reared their heads proudly 
 along the hills, and even the smaller trees of the 
 forest retained a feeble appearance of life and ve 
 getation. 
 
 The many tongues of rumour were busy in ex 
 aggerating the miraculous escape of Elizabeth, and 
 a report was generally credited, that Mohegan had 
 actually perished in the flames. This belief be 
 came confirmed, and was indeed rendered proba 
 ble, when the direful intelligence reached the vil 
 lage, that Jotham Riddel, the miner, was found in 
 his hole, nearly dead with suffocation, and burnt 
 to such a degree that no hopes were entertained 
 of his life. 
 
568 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 The public attention became much alive to the 
 events of the last few days, and just at this crisis, 
 the convicted counterfeiters took the hint from 
 Natty, and, on the night succeeding the fire, found 
 means to cut through their log prison also, and to 
 escape unpunished. When this news began to cir 
 culate through the village, blended with the fate 
 of Jotham, and the exaggerated and tortured re 
 ports of the events on the hill, the popular opinion 
 was freely expressed, as to the propriety of seizing 
 such of the fugitives as remained within reach. 
 Men talked of the cave, as a secret receptacle of 
 guilt ; and as the rumour of ores and metals found 
 its way into the confused medley of conjectures 
 counterfeiting, and every thing else that was wick 
 ed and dangerous to the peace of society, suggest 
 ed themselves to the busy fancies of the populace. 
 
 While the public mind was in this feverish state, 
 it was hinted that the wood had been set on fire 
 by Edwards and the Leather-stocking, and that, 
 consequently, they alone were responsible for the 
 damages. This opinion soon gained ground, be 
 ing most circulated by those who, by their own 
 heedlessness, had caused the evil ; and there was 
 one irresistible burst of the common sentiment, that 
 an attempt should be made to punish the offenders. 
 Richard was by no means deaf to this appeal, and 
 by noon he set about in earnest, to see the laws 
 executed. 
 
 Several stout young men were selected, and 
 taken apart with an appearance of secrecy, where 
 they received some important charge from the 
 Sheriff, immediately under the eyes, but far re 
 moved from the ears, of all in the village. Pos 
 sessed with a knowledge of their duty, these 
 youths hurried into the hills, with a bustling man 
 ner, as if the fate of the world depended on their 
 
THE PIONEERS. 569 
 
 diligence, ant 1 , at the same time, with an air of 
 mystery, as great as if they were engaged on se 
 cret matters of the state. 
 
 At twelve precisely, a drum beat the " long 
 roll" before the " Bold Dragoon," and Richard ap 
 peared, accompanied by Captain Hollister, who 
 was clad in his vestments as commander of the 
 " Templeton Light-Infantry," when the former de 
 manded of the latter the aid of the posse eomita- 
 tus, in enforcing the laws of the country. We have 
 not room to record the speeches of the two gen 
 tlemen on this occasion, but they are preserved in 
 the columns of the little blue news-paper, which 
 is yet to be found on file, and are said to be highly 
 creditable to the legal formula of one of the par 
 ties, and to the military precision of the other. 
 Every thing had been previously arranged, and as 
 the red-coated drummer continued to roll out his 
 clattering notes, some five-and-twenty privates ap 
 peared in die ranks, and arranged themselves in 
 order of battle. 
 
 As this corps was composed of volunteers, and 
 was commanded by a man who had passed the first 
 five-and-thirty years of his life in camps and gar 
 risons, it was the nonpareil of military science in 
 that country, and was confidently pronounced, by 
 the judicious part of the Templeton community, to 
 be equal in skill and appearance to any troops in 
 the known world ; in physical endowments they 
 were, certainly, much superior ! To this asser 
 tion there were but three dissenting voices, and 
 one dissenting opinion. The opinion belonged to 
 Marmaduke, who, however, saw no necessity for 
 its promulgation. Of the voices, one, and that a 
 pretty loud one, came from the spouse of the com 
 mander himself, who frequently reproached her 
 husband for condescending to lead such an irregu* 
 48* 
 
670 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 iar band of warriors, after he had filled the honour 
 able station of sergeant-major to a dashing corps of 
 Virginian cavalry through much of the recent war. 
 
 Another of these skeptical sentiments was inva 
 riably expressed by Mr. Pump, whenever the com 
 pany paraded, generally in some such terms as 
 these, which were uttered with that sort of meek 
 ness, that a native of the island of our forefathers is 
 apt to assume, when he condescends to praise the 
 customs or characters of her truant progeny 
 
 " It s mayhap that they knows sum mat about 
 loading and firing, d ye see ; but as for working 
 ship ! why a corporal s guard of the Boadishey s 
 marines would back and fill on their quarters in 
 such a manner as to surround and captivate them 
 all in half a glass." As there was no one to deny 
 this assertion, the marines of the Boadicea were 
 held in a corresponding degree of estimation. 
 
 The third unbeliever was Monsieur Le Quoi, 
 who merely whispered to the sheriff, that the corps 
 was one of the finest he had ever seen, second only 
 to the Mousquetaires of Le Bon Louis ! How 
 ever, as Mrs. Hollister thought there was some 
 thing like actual service in the present appearances, 
 and was, in consequence, too busily engaged with 
 certain preparations of her own, to make her com 
 ments ; as Benjamin was absent, and Monsieur Le 
 Quoi too happy to find fault with any thing, the 
 corps escaped criticism and comparison altogether 
 on this momentous day, when they certainly had 
 greater need of self-confidence, than on any other 
 previous occasion. Marmaduke was said to be 
 again closeted with Mr. Van der School, and no 
 interruption was offered to the movements of the 
 troops. At two o clock precisely the corps shoul 
 dered arms, beginning on the right wing, next to 
 the veteran, and carrying the motion through to the 
 
THE PIONEERS. 571 
 
 left with great regularity. When each musket 
 was quietly fixed in its proper situation, the order 
 was given to wheel to the left, and march. As 
 this was bringing raw troops, at once, to face their 
 enemy, it is not to be supposed that the manoeuvre 
 was executed with their usual accuracy, but as the 
 music struck up the inspiring air of Yankee-doodle, 
 and Richard, accompanied by Mr. Doolittle, pre 
 ceded the troops boldly down the street, Captain 
 Hollister led on, with his head elevated to forty- 
 five degrees, with a little, low cocked hat perched 
 on its crown, carrying a tremendous dragoon sa 
 bre at a poise, and trailing at his heels a huge steel 
 scabbard, that had war in its very clattering. There 
 was a good deal of difficulty in getting all the pla 
 toons (there were six) to look the same way ; but, 
 by the time they reached the defile of the bridge, 
 the troops were in excellent order. In this man 
 ner they marched up the hill to the summit of the 
 mountain, no other alteration taking place in the 
 disposition of the forces, excepting that a mutual 
 complaint was made by the sheriff and the magis 
 trate, of a failure in wind, which gradually brought 
 these gentlemen to the rear. It will be unneces 
 sary to detail the minute movements that suc 
 ceeded. We shall briefly say, that the scouts came 
 in and reported, that, so far from retreating, as had 
 been anticipated, the fugitives had evidently gained 
 a knowledge of the attack, and were fortifying for 
 a desperate resistance. This intelligence certainly 
 made a material change, not only in the plans of 
 the leaders, but in the countenances of the soldiery 
 also. The men looked at one another with seri 
 ous faces, and Hiram and Richard began to con 
 sult together, apart. 
 
 At this juncture, they were joined by Billy Kir- 
 by, who came along the highway, with hk axe im- 
 
672 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 der his arm, as much in advance of his team as 
 Captain Hollister had been of his troops in the as 
 cent. The wood-chopper was amazed at the mili 
 tary array, but the sheriff eagerly availed himself 
 of this powerful reinforcement, and commanded his 
 assistance in putting the laws in force. Billy held 
 Mr. Jones in too much deference to object ; and it 
 was finally ai ranged, that he should be the bearer 
 of a summons to the garrison to surrender, before 
 they proceeded to extremities. The troops now 
 divided, one party being led by the captain, over 
 the Vision, and were brought in on the left of the 
 cave, while the remainder advanced upon its right, 
 under the orders of the lieutenant. Mr. Jones and 
 Dr. Todd, for the surgeon was in attendance also, 
 appeared on the platform of rock, immediately over 
 the heads of the garrison, though out of their sight. 
 Hiram thought this approaching too near, and he 
 therefore accompanied Kirby along the side of the 
 hill, to within a safe distance of the fortifications, 
 where he took shelter behind a tree. Most of the 
 men discovered a wonderful accuracy of eye in 
 bringing some object in range between them and 
 their enemy, and the only two of the besiegers, 
 who were left in plain sight of the besieged, were 
 Captain Hollister on one side, and the wood-chop 
 per on the other. The veteran stood up boldly to 
 the front, supporting his heavy sword, in one un- 
 deviating position, with his eye fixed firmly on 
 his enemy, while the huge form of Billy was placed 
 in that kind of quiet repose, with either hand thrust 
 into his bosom, bearing his axe under his right 
 arm, which permitted him, like his own oxen, to 
 rest standing. So far, not a word had been ex 
 changed between the belligerants. The besieged 
 had drawn together a pile of black logs and branches 
 of trees, which they had formed into a chevaux-de- 
 
THE PIONEERS. 573 
 
 frise, making a little circular abbatis in front of the 
 entrance to the cave. As the ground was steep 
 and slippery in every direction around the place, 
 and Benjamin appeared behind the works on one 
 side, and Natty on the other, the arrangement was 
 by no means contemptible, especially as the front 
 was sufficiently guarded by the difficulty of the ap 
 proach. By this time, Kirby had received his or 
 ders, and he advanced coolly along the mountain, 
 picking his way with the same indifference as if he 
 were pursuing his ordinary business. When he 
 was within a hundred feet of the works, the long 
 and much dreaded rifle of the Leather-stocking 
 was seen issuing from the parapet, and his voice 
 cried aloud 
 
 " Keep off ! Billy Kirby, keep off ! I wish ye no 
 harm ; but if a man of ye all comes a step nigher, 
 there ll be blood spilt a-twixt us. God forgive the 
 one that draws it first ; but so it must be." 
 
 " Come, old chap," said Billy, good naturedly, 
 " (Jon t be crabbed, but hear what a man has got 
 to say. I ve no consarn in the business, only to 
 see right twixt man and man ; and I don t kear the 
 valie of a beetle-ring which gets the better ; but 
 there s Squire Doolittle, out yonder behind the 
 beech sapling, he has invited me to come in and 
 ask you to give up to the law that s all." 
 
 " I see the varmint ! I see his clothes !" cried 
 the indignant Natty ; " and if he ll only show so 
 much flesh as will bury a rifle bullet, thirty to the 
 pound, I ll make hii feel me. Go away, Billy, I 
 bid ye ; you know my aim, and I bear you no ma 
 lice." 
 
 " You over calkilate your aim, Natty," said the 
 other, as he stepped behind a pine that stood near 
 him, " if you think to shoot a man through a tree 
 with a three foot but. I can lay this tree right 
 
574 THE PIONEERS 
 
 across you in ten minutes, by any man s watch, 
 and in less time, too ; so be civil I want no more 
 than what s right." 
 
 There was a simple seriousness in the counte 
 nance of Natty, that showed he was much in ear 
 nest ; but it was also evident, that he was reluctant 
 to shed human blood. He answered the vaunt of 
 the wood-chopper, by saying 
 
 " I know you drop a tree where you will, Billy 
 Kirby ; but if you show a hand, or an arm, in do 
 ing it, there ll be bones to be set, and blood to 
 staunch, I tell you. If it s only to get into the 
 cave that ye want, wait till a two hours sun, and 
 you may enter it in welcome ; but come in now 
 you shall not. There s one dead body already, 
 lying on the cold rocks, and there s another in 
 which the life can hardly be said to stay. If you 
 will come in, there ll be dead without as well as 
 within." 
 
 The wood-chopper stept out fearlessly from his 
 cover, and cried 
 
 " That s fair ; and what s fair is right. He wants 
 you to stop till it s two hours to sun-down ; and I 
 see reason in the thing. A man can give up when 
 he s wrong, if you don t crowd him too hard ; but 
 you crowd a man, and he gets tc be like a stubborn 
 ox the more you beat, the worse he kicks." 
 
 The sturdy notions of independence maintained 
 by Billy, neither suited the emergency, nor the 
 impatience of Mr. Jones, who was burning with a 
 desire to examine the hidden masteries of the cave. 
 He therefore interrupted this amicable dialogue 
 with his own voice. 
 
 " I command you, Nathaniel Bumppo, by my 
 authority, to surrender your person to the law," he 
 cried. " And I command you, gentlemen, to aid 
 me in performing my duty. Benjamin Penguillan 3 
 
THE PIONEERS. 575 
 
 I arrest you, and order you to follow me to the jail 
 of the county, by virtue of this warrant." 
 
 " I d follow ye, Squire Dickens," said Benja 
 min, removing the pipe from his mouth, (for during 
 the whole scene the ex-major domo had been very 
 composedly smoking, ) " ay ! I d sail in your 
 wake, sir, to the end of the world, if-so-be that 
 there was such a place, which there isn t, seeing 
 that it s round. Now, mayhap, Master Hollister, 
 having lived all your life on shore, you isn t ac 
 quainted that the world, d ye see" 
 
 " Surrender !" interrupted the veteran, in a 
 voice that startled his hearers, and which actually 
 caused his own forces to recoil several paces ; 
 " Surrender, Benjamin Pengullum, or expect no 
 quarter." 
 
 ." Damn your quarter," said Benjamin, rising 
 from the log on which he was seated, and taking 
 a squint along the barrel of the swivel, which had 
 been brought on the hill, during the night, and now 
 formed the means of defence on his side of the 
 works. " Look you, Master, or Captain, thof I 
 questions if ye know the name of a rope, except 
 the one that s to hang ye, there s no need of sing 
 ing out, just as if ye was hailing a deaf man on a 
 top-gallant-yard. Mayhap you think you ve got 
 my true name in your sheep-skin ; but what Bri 
 tish sailor finds it worth while to sail in these 
 seas, without a sham on his stern, in case of need, 
 d ye see. If you call me Penguillan, you calls me 
 by the name of the man on whose land, d ye see, I 
 hove into daylight ; and he was a gentleman ; and 
 that s more than my worst enemy will say of any 
 of the family of Benjamin Stubbs." 
 
 u Send the warrant round to me. and I ll put in 
 an alias," cried Hiram, from behind his cover. 
 
 " Put in a jackass, and you ll jut in yourself, 
 
576 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 Mister Doo-but-little," shouted Benjamin, who 
 kept squinting along his little iron tube, with great 
 steadiness. 
 
 " I give you but one moment to yeld in," cried 
 iRichard. u Benjamin ! Benjamin ! this is not the 
 gratitude I expected from you." 
 
 " I tell you, Richard Jones," said Natty, who 
 dreaded the sheriff s influence over his comrade ; 
 though the canister the gal brought be lost, 
 .here s powder enough in the cave to lift the rock 
 you stand on. I ll take off my roof, if you don t 
 hold your peace." 
 
 " I think it beneath the dignity of my office to 
 parley further with the prisoners," the sheriff ob 
 served to his companion, while they both retired 
 with a precipitancy that Captain Hollister mistook 
 for the signal to advance. 
 
 " Charge baggonet !" shouted the veteran , 
 " march !" 
 
 Although this signal was certainly expected, it 
 took the assailed a little by surprise, and the vete 
 ran approached the works, crying, " courage, my 
 brave lads ! give them no quarter unless they sur 
 render," and struck a furious blow upwards with 
 his sabre, that would have divided the steward in 
 moieties, by subjecting him to the process of de 
 capitation, but for the fortunate interference of the 
 muzzle of the swivel. As it was, the gun was dis 
 mounted at the critical moment that Benjamin was 
 applying his pipe to the priming, and in conse 
 quence, some five or six dozen of rifle bullets were 
 projected into the air, in nearly a perpendicular 
 line. Philosophy teaches us that the atmosphere 
 will not retain lead ; and two pounds of the metal, 
 moulded into bullets of thirty to the pound, after 
 describing an ellipsis in their journey, returned to 
 the earth, rattling among the branches of the trees 
 
THE PIONEERS. 577 
 
 directly over the heads of the troops stationed in 
 the rear of their captain. Much of the success of 
 an attack, made by irregular soldiers, depends on 
 which way they are first got in motion. In the 
 present instance, it was retrograde, and in less than 
 a minute after the loud bellowing report of the 
 swivel among the rocks and caverns, the whole 
 weight of the attack, from the left, rested on the 
 prowess of the single arm of the veteran. Benja 
 min received a severe contusion from the recoil of 
 his gun, which produced a short stupor, during 
 which period the ex-steward was prostrate on the 
 ground. Captain Hollister availed himself of this 
 circumstance to scramble over the breast-work, and 
 obtain a footing in the bastion for such was the 
 nature of the fortress, as connected with the cave. 
 The moment the veteran found himself within the 
 works of his enemy, he rushed to the edge of the 
 fortification, and waving his sabre over his head, 
 shouted 
 
 " Victory ! come on, my brave boys, the work s 
 our own!" 
 
 All this was perfectly military, and was such 
 an example as a gallant officer was in some mea 
 sure bound to exhibit to his men ; but the outcry 
 was the unlucky cause of turning the tide of suc 
 cess. Natty, who had been keeping a vigilant eye 
 on the wood-chopper, and the enemy immediately 
 before him, wheeled at this alarm, and was appal 
 led at beholding his comrade on the ground, and 
 the veteran standing on his own bulwark, giving 
 forth the cry of victory ! The muzzle of the long 
 rifle was turned instantly towards the captain. 
 There was a moment when the life of the old sol 
 dier was in great jeopardy ; but the object to shoot 
 at was both too large and too near for the Leather- 
 stocking, who, instead of pulling his trigger, ap- 
 49 
 
578 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 plied the gun to the rear of his enemy, and by a 
 powerful shove sent him outside of the works with 
 much greater rapidity than he had entered them. 
 The spot on which Captain Hollister alighted was 
 directly in front, where, as his feet touched the 
 ground, so steep and slippery was the side of the 
 mountain, it seemed to recede from under them. 
 His motion was wonderfully swift, and so irregular, 
 as utterly to confuse the faculties of the old sol 
 dier. During its continuance, he supposed himself 
 to be mounted, and charging through the ranks of 
 his enemy. At every tree he made a blow, of 
 course, as at a foot-soldier ; and just as he was 
 making the cut " St. George" at a half-burnt sap 
 ling, he landed in the highway, and, to his utter 
 amazement, at the feet of his own spouse. When 
 Mrs. Hollister, who was toiling up the hill, follow 
 ed by at least twenty curious boys, leaning with 
 one hand on the staff with which she ordinarily 
 walked, and bearing in the other an empty bag, 
 witnessed this exploit of her husband, indignation 
 immediately got the better, not only of her religion, 
 but of her philosophy. 
 
 " Why, sargeant ! is it flying ye are ?" she 
 cried " That I should live to see a husband of 
 mine turn his back to the inimy ! and sich a one I 
 Here have I been telling the b ys, as we come 
 along, all about the saige of Yorrektown, and how ye 
 was hurted ; and how ye d be acting the same ag in 
 the day ; and I mate ye retraiting jist as the first 
 gun is fired. Och ; I may trow away the bag ! for 
 if there s plunder, twill not be the wife of sich 
 as yeerself that will be privileged to be getting the 
 same. They do say, too, there is a power of goold 
 and silver in the place the Lord forgive me for 
 setting my heart on sich worreldly things ; but 
 
THE PIONEERS. 579 
 
 what falls in the battle, there s Scripter for believ 
 ing it the just property of the victor." 
 
 " Retreating !" exclaimed the amazed veteran ; 
 " where s my horse ? he has been shot under 
 me I" 
 
 " Is the man mad !" interrupted his wife " divil 
 the horse do ye own, sargeant, and yee re nothing 
 but a shabby captain of malaishy. Och ! if the 
 ra al captain was here, tis the other way ye d be 
 riding, dear, or you would not follow your lader !" 
 
 While this worthy couple were thus discussing 
 events, the battle began to rage more violently than 
 ever, above them. When the Leather-stocking 
 saw his enemy fairly under head-way, as Benjamin 
 would express it, he gave his attention again to the 
 right wing of the assailants. It would have been 
 easy for Kirby, with his powerful frame, to have 
 seized the moment to scale the bastion, and, with 
 his great strength, to have sent both its defenders 
 in pursuit of the veteran ; but hostility appeared 
 to be the passion that the wood-chopper indulged 
 the least in, at that moment, for, in a voice that 
 was heard even by the retreating left wing, he 
 shouted 
 
 " Hurrah ! well done, captain ! keep it up ! how 
 he handles his bush hook ! he makes nothing of a 
 sapling !" and such other encouraging exclamations 
 to the flying veteran, until, overcome by his mirth, 
 the good-natured fellow seated" himself on the 
 ground, kicking the earth with delight, and giving 
 vent to peal after peal of laughter. 
 
 Natty stood all this time in a menacing attitude, 
 with his rifle pointed over his breast-work, watch 
 ing with a quick and cautious eye the least move 
 ment of the assailants. The outcry unfortunately 
 tempted the ungovernable curiosity of Hiram to 
 take a peep from behind his cover at "the state of the 
 
580 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 battle. Though this evolution was performed with 
 great caution, in protecting his front, he left, like 
 many a better commander, his rear exposed to the 
 attacks of his enemy. Mr. Doolittle belonged phy 
 sically to a class of his countrymen, to whom na 
 ture has denied, in their formation, the use of curv 
 ed lines. Every thing about him was either straight 
 or angular. But his tailor was a woman who work 
 ed, like a regimental contractor, by a set of rules 
 that gave the same configuration to the whole hu 
 man species. Consequently, when Mr. Doolittle 
 leaned forward in the manner described, a loose 
 drapery appeared behind the tree, at which the ri 
 fle of Natty was pointed with the quickness ol 
 lightning. A less experienced man would have 
 aimed at the flowing robe, which hung like a fes 
 toon half way to the earth ; b it the Leather-stock 
 ing knew both the man and .His female tailor bet 
 ter, and when the smart report of the rifle was 
 heard, Kirby, who watched the whole manoeuvre 
 in breathless expectation, saw the bark fly from the 
 beech, and the cloth, at some distance above the 
 loose folds, wave at the same instant. No battery 
 was ever unmasked with more promptitude than 
 Hiram advanced from behind the tree, at this sum 
 mons. 
 
 He made two or three steps, with great precision, 
 to the front, and, placing one hand on the afflicted 
 part, stretched forth the other, with a menacing air, 
 towards Natty, and cried aloud 
 
 " Gawl darn ye ! this shan t be settled so easy ; 
 I ll follow it up from the common pleas to the 
 court of errors. " 
 
 Such a shocking imprecation, from the mouth of 
 so orderly a man as Squire Doolittle, with the fear 
 less manner in which he exposed himself, together 
 with, perhaps-, the knowledge that Natty s rifle was 
 
THE PIONEERS. 581 
 
 unloaded, encouraged the troops in the rear, who 
 gave a loud shout, and fired a volley into the tree- 
 tops, after the contents of the swivel. Animated 
 by their own noise, the men now rushed on in ear 
 nest, and Billy Kirby, who thought the joke, good 
 as it was, had gone far enough, was in the act of 
 scaling the works, when Judge Temple appeared 
 on the opposite side, exclaiming 
 
 " Silence and peace ! why do I see murder and 
 bloodshed attempted ! is not the law sufficient to 
 protect itself, that armed bands must be gathered, 
 as in rebellion and war, to see justice performed !" 
 
 " Tis the posse comitatus," shouted the She 
 riff, from a distant rock, " who" 
 
 " Say rather a posse of demons. I command 
 the peace." 
 
 " Hold ! shed not blood !" cried a voice from 
 the top of the Vision " Hold ! for the sake of 
 Heaven, fire no more ! all shall be yielded ! you 
 shall enter the cave !" 
 
 Amazement produced the desired effect. Natty, 
 who had reloaded his piece, quietly seated him 
 self on the logs, and rested his head on his hand, 
 while the " Light Infantry" ceased their military 
 movements, and waited the issue in mute sus 
 pense. 
 
 In less than a minute Edwards came rushing 
 down the hill, followed by Major Hartmann with a 
 velocity that was surprising for his years. They 
 reached the terrace in an instant, from which the 
 youth led the way, by the hollow in the rock, to 
 the mouth of the cave, into which they both en 
 tered ; leaving all without silent and gazing after 
 them with astonishment. 
 49 * 
 
CHAPTER XL. 
 
 " I am dumb. 
 Were you the Doctor, and I knew you not l n 
 
 Shakspeare. 
 
 DURING the five or six minutes that elapsed be 
 fore the youth and Major reappeared, Judge Tern 
 pie and the Sheriff, together with most of the vo 
 lunteers, ascended to the terrace, where the latter 
 began to express their conjectures of the result, 
 and to recount their individual services in the con 
 flict. But the sight of the peace-makers, ascend 
 ing the ravine, shut every mouth. 
 
 On a rude chair, covered with undressed deer 
 skins, they supported a human being, whom they 
 seated carefully and respectfully in the midst ot 
 the assembly. His head was covered by long, 
 smooth locks, of the colour of snov. His dress, 
 which was studiously neat and clean, was com 
 posed of such fabrics as none but the wealthiest 
 classes wear, but was threadbare and patched ; and 
 on his feet were placed a pair of moccasins, orna 
 mented in the best manner of Indian ingenuity. 
 The outlines of his face were grave and dignified, 
 though his vacant eye, which opened and turned 
 slowly to the faces of those around him in unmean- 
 
THE PIONEERS. 583 
 
 ing looks, too surely announced that the period 
 had arrived, when age brings the mental imbecility 
 of childhood. 
 
 Natty had followed the supporters of this unex 
 pected object to the top of the cave, and took his 
 station at a little distance behind him, leaning on 
 his rifle, in the midst of his pursuers, with a fear 
 lessness which showed that heavier interests than 
 those which affected himself were to be decided. 
 Major Hartrnann placed himself beside the aged 
 man, uncovered, with his whole soul beaming 
 through those eyes which so commonly danced 
 with frolic and humour. Edwards rested with one 
 hand familiarly, but affectionately, on the chair, 
 though hie heart was swelling with emotions that 
 denied him utterance. 
 
 All eyes were gazing intently, but each tongue 
 continued mute. At length the decrepit stranger, 
 turning his vacant looks from face to face, made a 
 feeble attempt to rise, while a faint smile crossed 
 his wasted face, like an habitual effort at courtesy, 
 as he said, in a hollow, tremulous voice 
 
 " Be pleased to be seated, gentlemen. The 
 council will open immediately. Each one who 
 loves a good and virtuous king, will wish to see 
 these colonies continue loyal. Be seated I pray 
 you, be seated, gentlemen. The troops shall halt 
 for the night" 
 
 " This is the wandering of insanity !" said Mar- 
 maduke ; " who will explain this scene ?" 
 
 " No, sir," said Edwards, firmly, " tis only the 
 decay of nature ; who is answerable for its pitiful 
 condition, remains to be shown." 
 
 " Will the gentlemen dine with us, my son ?" 
 said the old stranger, turning to a voice that he 
 both knew and loved. " Order a repast suitable 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
584 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 for his Majesty s officers. You know we have the 
 best of game always at our command." 
 
 "Who is this man?" asked Marmaduke, in a 
 hurried voice, in which the dawnings of conjec 
 ture united with interest to put the question. 
 
 " This man !" returned Edwards calmly, his 
 voice, however, gradually rising as he proceeded ; 
 " this man, sir, whom you behold hid in caverns, 
 and deprived of every thing that can make life de 
 sirable, was once the companion and counsellor of 
 those who ruled your country. This man, whom 
 you see, helpless and feeble, was once a warrior, 
 so brave and fearless, that even the intrepid natives 
 gave him the name of the Fire-eater. This man, 
 whom you now see destitute of even the ordinary 
 comfort of a cabin, in which to shelter his head, 
 was once the owner of great riches ; and, Judge 
 Temple, he was the rightful proprietor of this very 
 soil on which we stand. This man was the father 
 of" 
 
 " This, then," cried Marmaduke, with powerful 
 emotion, " this, then, is the lost Major Effingham !" 
 
 "Emphatically so," said the youth, fixing a 
 piercing eye on the other. 
 
 " And you ! and you !" continued the Judge ar 
 ticulating with difficulty. 
 
 "I am his grandson." 
 
 A minute passed in profound silence. All eyes 
 were fixed on the speakers, and even the old Ger 
 man appeared to wait the issue in deep anxiety. 
 But the moment of agitation soon passed. Marma 
 duke raised his head from his bosom, where it had 
 sunk, not in shame, but in devout mental thanks 
 givings, and, as large tears fell over his fine manly 
 face, he grasped the hand of the youth warmly, 
 and said 
 
THE PIONEERS. 585 
 
 " Oliver, I forgive all thy harshness all thy 
 suspicions. I now see it all. I forgive thee every 
 thing, but suffering this aged man to dwell in such 
 a place, when not only my habitation, but my for 
 tune, were at his and thy command." 
 
 " He s true as ter steel !" shouted Major Hart- 
 mann ; " titn t I tell t you, lat, dat Marmatuke 
 Temple vast a frient dat woult never fail in ter 
 dime as of neet ?" 
 
 " It is true, Judge Temple, that my opinions of 
 your conduct have been staggered by what this 
 worthy gentleman has told me. When I found it 
 impossible to convey my grandfather back whence 
 the enduring love of this old man brought him, 
 without detection and exposure, I went to the Mo - 
 hawk in quest of one of his former comrades, in 
 whose justice I had dependence. He is your 
 friend, Judge Temple, but if what he says be true, 
 both my father and myself may have judged you 
 harshly." 
 
 " You name your father!" said Marmaduke, ten 
 derly " Was he, indeed, lost in the packet ?" 
 
 " He was. He had left me, after several years 
 of fruitless application and comparative poverty, in 
 Nova- Scotia, to obtain the compensation for his 
 losses, which the British commissioners had at 
 length awarded. After spending a year in Eng 
 land, he was returning to Halifax, on his way to a 
 government, to which he had been appointed, in 
 the West-Indies, intending to go to the place where 
 my grandfather had sojourned during and since the 
 war, and take him with us." 
 
 " But, thou !" said Marmaduke, with powerful 
 interest ; " I had thought that thou hadst perished 
 with him." 
 
 A flush passed over the cheeks of the young 
 man, who gazed about him at the wondering faces 
 
586 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 of the volunteers, and continued silent. Marina 
 duke turned to the veteran captain, who just then 
 rejoined his command, and said 
 
 "March thy soldiers back again, and dismiss 
 them ; the zeal of the sheriff has much mistaken his 
 duty. Dr. Todd, I will thank you to attend to the 
 injury which Hiram Doolittle has received in this 
 untoward affair. Richard, you will oblige me by 
 sending up the carriage to the top of the hill. Ben 
 jamin, return to your duty in my family." 
 
 Unwelcome as these orders were to most of the 
 auditors, the suspicion that they had somewhat ex 
 ceeded the wholesome restraints of the law, and 
 the habitual respect with which all the commands 
 of the Judge were received, induced a prompt com 
 pliance. 
 
 When they were gone, and the rock was left to 
 the parties most interested in an explanation, Mar- 
 maduke, pointing to the aged Major Effingham, 
 said to his grandson 
 
 " Had we not better remove thy parent from 
 this open place, until my carriage can arrive ?" 
 
 u Pardon me, sir, the air does him good, and he 
 has taken it whenever there was no dread of a dis 
 covery. I know not how to act, Judge Temple ; 
 ought I, can I, suffer Major Effingham to become 
 an inmate of your family ?" 
 
 " Thou shalt be thyself the judge," said Marma- 
 duke. " Thy father was my early friend. He in 
 trusted his fortune to my care. When we sepa 
 rated, he had such confidence in me, that he wish 
 ed no security, no evidence of the trust, even had 
 there been time or convenience for exacting it. 
 This thou hast heard ?" 
 
 " Most truly, sir," said Edwards, or rather Ef- 
 fmgham, as we must now call him, with a bitter 
 smile. 
 
THE PIONEERS. 587 
 
 < We divided in politics. If the cause of thig 
 country was successful, the trust was sacred with 
 me, for none knew of thy father s interest. If the 
 crown still held its sway, it would be easy to re 
 store the property of so loyal a subject as Colonel 
 Effingham. Is not this plain ?" 
 
 " The premises are good, sir," continued the 
 youth, with the same incredulous look as before. 
 
 " Listen listen, poy," said the German. " Dere 
 is not a hair as of ter rogue in ter het of ter 
 Tchooge." 
 
 " We all know the issue of the struggle," con 
 tinued Marmaduke, disregarding both. " Thy 
 grandfather was left in Connecticut, regularly sup 
 plied by thy father with the means of such a sub 
 sistence as suited his wants. This I well knew, 
 though I never had intercourse with him, even in 
 our happiest days. Thy father retired with the 
 troops to prosecute his claims on England. At all 
 events, his losses must be great, for his real estates 
 were sold, and I became the lawful purchaser. It 
 was not unnatural to wish that he might have no 
 bar to his just recovery ?" 
 
 " There was none, but the difficulty of providing 
 for so many claimants." 
 
 " But there would have beep one, and an insu 
 perable one, had I announced to the world that I 
 held these estates, multiplied, by the times and my 
 industry, a hundred fold in valve, only as his trus 
 tee. Thou knowest that I supplied him with con 
 siderable sums, immediately after the war." 
 
 " You did, until" 
 
 " My letters were returned unopened. Thy 
 father had much of thy own spirit, Oliver ; he was 
 sometimes hasty and rash." Tfoe Judge continued, 
 in a self-condemning manner - u Perbwaps my fault 
 lies the other way ; I may ? *?foiy kw*fr too far 
 
588 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 ahead, and calculate too deeply. It certainly was 
 a severe trial to allow the man, whom I most lov 
 ed, to think ill of me for seven years, in order that 
 he might honestly apply for his just remunerations. 
 But had he opened my last letters, thou wouldst 
 have learnt the whole truth. Those I sent him to 
 England, by what my agent writes me, he did read. 
 He died, Oliver, knowing all. He died my friend, 
 and I thought thou hadst died with him." 
 
 " Our poverty would not permit us to pay for 
 two passages," said the youth, with the extraordi 
 nary emotion with which he ever alluded to the 
 degraded state of his family ; " I was left in the 
 Province to wait for his return, and when the sad 
 news of his loss reached me, I was nearly penny- 
 less." 
 
 " And what didst thou, boy ?" asked Marmaduko, 
 in a faltering voice. 
 
 " I took my passage here in search of my grand 
 father ; for I well knew that his resources were 
 gone, with the half-pay of my father. On reaching his 
 abode, I learnt that he had left it in secret ; though 
 the reluctant hireling, who deserted him in his pover 
 ty, owned to my urgent entreaties, that he believ 
 ed he had been carried away by an old man, who 
 had formerly been his servant. I knew at once it 
 was Natty, for my father often" 
 
 " Was Natty a servant to thy grandfather ?" ex 
 claimed the Judge. 
 
 " Of that too were you ignorant ?" said the youth, 
 in evident surprise. 
 
 " How should I know it ? I never met the Major, 
 nor was the name of Bumppo ever mentioned to 
 me. I knew him only as a man of the woods, and 
 one who lived by hunting. Such men are too com 
 mon to excite surprise." 
 
 " He was reared in the family of my grandfa 
 
THE PIONEERS. 589 
 
 ther ; served him for many years during their cam 
 paigns at the west, where he became attached to 
 the woods ; and he was left here as a kind of lo 
 cum tenens on the lands that old Mohegan ( whose 
 life my grandfather once saved) induced the Dela- 
 wares to grant to him, when they admitted him as 
 an honorary member of their tribe." 
 
 " This, then, is thy Indian blood ?" 
 
 " I have no other," said Edwards, smiling ; - 
 " Major Effingham was adopted as the son of 
 Mohegan, who at that time was the greatest man 
 in his nation ; and my father, who visited those 
 people when a boy, received the name of the Eagle 
 from them, on account of the shape of his face, as I 
 understand. They have extended his title to me. 
 I have no other Indian blood or breeding ; though 
 I have seen the hour, Judge Temple, when I could 
 wish that such had been my lineage and educa 
 tion." 
 
 " Proceed with thy tale," said Marmaduke. 
 
 " I have but little more to say, sir. I followed 
 to the lake where I had so often been told that 
 Natty dwelt, and found him maintaining his old 
 master in secret ; for even he could not bear to ex 
 hibit to the world, in his poverty and dotage, a 
 man whom a whole people once looked up to with 
 respect." 
 
 " And what did you ?" 
 
 " What did I ! I spent my last money in pur 
 chasing a rifle, clad myself in a coarse garb, and 
 learned to be a hunter by the side of Leather-stock 
 ing. You know the rest, Judge Temple." 
 
 " Ant vere vast olt Fritz Hartmann !" said the 
 German, reproachfully ; " didst never hear a name 
 as of olt Fritz Hartmann from ter mout of ter fa 
 der, lat ?" 
 
 < I may have been mistaken, gentlemen/ 1 re- 
 50 
 
590 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 turned the youth ; " but I had pride, and could 
 not submit to such an exposure as this day even 
 has reluctantly brought to light. I had plans that 
 might have been visionary ; but, should my parent 
 survive till autumn, I purposed taking him with 
 me to the city, where we have distant relatives, 
 who must have learnt to forget the Tory by this 
 time. He decays rapidly," he continued, mourn 
 fully, " and must soon lie by the side of old Mo- 
 hegan." 
 
 The air being pure, and the day fine, the party 
 continued conversing on the rock, until the wheels 
 of Judge Temple s carriage were heard clattering 
 up the side of the mountain, during which time the 
 conversation was maintained with deep interest, 
 each moment clearing up some doubtful action, and 
 lessening the antipathy of the youth to Manna- 
 duke. He no longer objected to the removal of 
 his grandfather, who displayed a childish pleasure 
 when he found himself seated once more in a car 
 riage. When placed in the ample hall of the Man 
 sion-house, the eyes of the aged veteran turned 
 slowly to the objects in the apartment, and a look 
 like the dawn of intellect would, for moments, flit 
 across his features, when he invariably offered 
 some useless courtesies to those near him, wan 
 dering, painfully, in his subjects. The exercise 
 and the change soon produced an exhaustion, that 
 caused them to remove him to his bed, where he 
 lay for hours, evidently sensible of the change in 
 his comforts, and exhibiting that mortifying picture 
 of human nature, which too plainly shows, that the 
 propensities of the animal continue even after the 
 nobler part of the creature appears to have va 
 nished. 
 
 Until his parent was placed comfortably in bed, 
 with Natty seated at his side, Effingham did not 
 
THE PIONEERS. 591 
 
 quit him. He then obeyed a summons to the li 
 brary of the Judge, where he found the latter, with 
 Major Hartmann, waiting for him. 
 
 " Read this paper, Oliver," said Marmaduke to 
 him, as he entered, " and thou wilt find that, so far 
 from intending thy family wrong during life, it has 
 been my care to provide that justice should be 
 done at even a later day." 
 
 The youth took the paper, which his first glance 
 told him was the will of the Judge. Hurried and 
 agitated as he was, he discovered that the date 
 corresponded with the time of the unusual depres 
 sion of Marmaduke. As he proceeded, his eyes 
 began to moisten, and the hand which held the in 
 strument shook violently. 
 
 The will commenced with the usual forms, spun 
 cut by the ingenuity of Mr. Van der School ; but 
 after this subject was fairly exhausted, the pen of 
 Marmaduke became plainly visible. In clear, dis 
 tinct, manly, and even eloquent language, he re 
 counted his obligations to Colonel Effmgham, the 
 nature of their connexion, and the circumstances 
 in which they separated. He then proceeded to 
 relate the motives for his long silence, mentioning, 
 however, large sums that he had forwarded to his 
 friend, which had been returned, with the letters 
 unopened. After this, he spoke of his search for 
 the grandfather, who had unaccountably disap 
 peared, and his fears that the direct heir of the 
 trust was buried in the ocean with his father. 
 
 After, in short, recounting in a clear narrative, 
 the events which our readers must now be able to 
 connect, he proceeded to make a fair and exact 
 statement of the sums left in his care by Colonel 
 Effingham. A devise of his whole estate to cer 
 tain responsible trustees followed ; to hold the 
 same for the benefit, in equal moieties, of his daugh 
 
592 THE PIONEEBS. 
 
 ter, on one part, and of Oliver Effingham, formerly 
 a major in the army of Great Britain, and of his 
 son Edward Effingham, and of his son Edward 
 Oliver Effingham, or to the survivor of them, and 
 the descendants of such survivor, for ever, on the 
 other part. The trust was to endure until 1810, 
 when, if no person appeared, or could be found, 
 after sufficient notice, to claim the moiety so de 
 vised, then a certain sum, calculating the principal 
 and interest of his debt to Colonel Effingham, was 
 to be paid to the heirs at law of the Effingham fa 
 mily, and the bulk of his estate was to be conveyed 
 in fee to his daughter, or her heirs. 
 
 The tears fell from the eyes of the young man, 
 as he read this undeniable testimony of the good 
 faith of Marmaduke, and his bewildered gaze was 
 still fastened on the paper, when a sweet voice, 
 that thrilled on every nerve, spoke, near him, 
 saying, 
 
 " Do you yet doubt us, Oliver ?" 
 
 " I have never doubted you /" cried the youth, 
 recovering his recollection and his voice, as he 
 sprung to seize the hand of Elizabeth ; " no, not 
 one moment has my faith in you wavered." 
 
 " And my father" 
 
 " God bless him ! 
 
 " I thank thee, my son," said the Judge, ex 
 changing a warm pressure of the hand with the 
 youth ; " but we have both erred ; thou hast been 
 too hasty, and I have been too slow. One half of 
 my estates shall be thine as soon as they can be 
 conveyed to thee ; and if what my suspicions tell 
 me be true, I suppose the other must follow speed 
 ily." He took the hand which he held, and united 
 it with that of his daughter, and motioned towards 
 the door to the Major. 
 
 " I telt you vat, gal !" said the old German, good 
 
THE PIONEERS. 593 
 
 humouredly ; " if I vast, ast I vast ven I servit 
 mit his grantfader on ter lakes, ter lazy tog shouln t 
 vin ter prize as for nottin." 
 
 " Come, come, old Fritz," cried the Judge ; "you 
 are seventy, not seventeen ; Richard waits for you 
 with a bowl of egg-nog, in the hall." 
 
 " Richart ! ter duyvel !" exclaimed the other, 
 hastening out of the room ; " he makes ter nog ast 
 for ter horse. I vilt show ter sheriff mit my own 
 hants ! Ter duyvel ! I pelieve he sweetens mit ter 
 yankee melasses !" 
 
 Marmaduke smiled and nodded affectionately at 
 the young couple, and closed the door after them. 
 If any of our readers expect that we are going to 
 open it again, for their gratification, they will soon 
 find themselves in a mistake. 
 
 The tete-a-tete continued for a very unreasona 
 ble time ; how long we shall not say ; but it was 
 ended by six o clock in the evening, for at that 
 hour Monsieur Le Quoi made his appearance, 
 agreeably to the appointment of the preceding day, 
 and claimed the ear of Miss Temple. He was ad 
 mitted ; when he made an offer of his hand, with 
 much suavity, together with his " amis beeg and 
 leet , his pere, his mere, and his suere-boosh." Eli 
 zabeth might, possibly, have previously entered 
 into some embarrassing and binding engagements 
 with Oliver, for she declined the tender of all, in 
 terms as polite, though perhaps a little more de 
 cided, than those in which they were made. 
 
 The Frenchman soon joined the German and 
 the Sheriff in the hall, who compelled him to take 
 a seat with them at the table, where, by the aid of 
 punch, wine, and egg-nog, they soon extracted from 
 the complaisant Mr. Le Quoi the nature of his 
 visit. It was evident that he had made the offer, 
 >s a duty which a well-bred man owed to a lady 
 50* 
 
594 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 in such a retired place, before he left the country, 
 and that his feelings were but very little, if at all, 
 interested in the matter. After a few potations, 
 the waggish pair persuaded the exhilarated French 
 man that there was an inexcusable partiality in of 
 fering to one lady, and not extending a similar cour 
 tesy to another. Consequently, about nine, Mon 
 sieur Le Quoi sallied forth to the Rectory, on a 
 similar mission to Miss Grant, which proved as sue 
 cessful as his first effort in love. 
 
 When he returned to the Mansion-house, at ten, 
 Richard and the Major were still seated at the ta 
 ble. They attempted to persuade the Gaul that 
 he should next try Remarkable Pettibone. But, 
 though he was stimulated by mental excitement 
 and wine, two hours of abstruse logic were thrown 
 away on this subject ; for he declined their advice, 
 with a pertinacity truly astonishing in so polite a 
 man. 
 
 When Benjamin lighted Monsieur Le Quoi from 
 the door, he said, at parting 
 
 " If-so-be, Mounsheer, you d run alongside Mis 
 tress Pretty-bones, as the Squire Dickens was bid 
 ding ye, tis my notion you d have been grappled ; 
 in which case, d ye see, you mought have been 
 troubled in swinging clear again in a handsome 
 manner; for thof Miss Lizzy and the parson s 
 young un be tidy little vessels, that shoot by a body 
 on a wind, Mistress Remarkable is sum mat of a 
 galliot fashion ; when you once takes em in tow, 
 they doesn t like to be cast off again." 
 
CHAPTEE XLL 
 
 * Yea, sweep ye on ! We will not leave, 
 For them who triumph, those who grieve. 
 
 With that armada gay 
 Be laughter loud, and jocund shout ^ 
 
 But with that skiff 
 Abides the minstrel tale." 
 
 Lord of the Isles. 
 
 THE events of our tale carry us through the 
 summer ; and, after making nearly the circle of the 
 year, we must conclude our labours in the delight 
 ful month of October. Many important incidents 
 had, however, occurred in the intervening period ; 
 a few of which it may be necessary to recount. 
 
 The two principal were, the marriage of Oliver 
 and Elizabeth, and the death of Major Effingham. 
 They both took place earlj* in September ; and 
 the former preceded the latter only by a few days. 
 The old man passed away like the last glimmering 
 of a taper ; and though his death cast a melancholy 
 over the family, grief could not follow such an end. 
 
 One of the chief concerns of Marmaduke was to 
 reconcile the even conduct of a magistrate with 
 the course that his feelings dictated to the crimi 
 nals. The day succeeding the discovery at the 
 cave, however, Natty and Benjamin re-entered the 
 jail peaceably, where they continued, well fed and 
 comfortable, until the return of an express to Alba 
 ny, who brought the Governor s pardon to the 
 
596 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 Leather-stocking. In the mean time, proper means 
 were employed to satisfy Hiram for the assaults on 
 his person ; and on the same day, the two comrades 
 issued together into society again, with their cha 
 racters not at all affected by their imprisonment. 
 
 Mr. Doolittle began to discover, that neither his 
 architecture, nor his law, was quite suitable to the 
 growing wealth and intelligence of the settlement ; 
 and, after exacting the last cent that was attainable 
 in his compromises, to use the language of the coun 
 try, he " pulled up stakes," and proceeded further 
 west, scattering his professional science and legal 
 learning through the land; vestiges of both of 
 which are to Be discovered there even to the pre 
 sent hour. 
 
 Poor Jotham, whose life paid the forfeiture of 
 his folly, acknowledged before he died, that his 
 reasons for believing in a mine, were extracted 
 from the lips of a sybil, who, by looking in a magic 
 glass, was enabled to discover the hidden treasures 
 of the earth. Such superstition was frequent in 
 the new settlements ; and after the first surprise 
 was over, fhe better part of the community forgot 
 the subject. But, at the same time that it removed 
 from the breast of Richard a lingering suspicion of 
 the acts of the three hunters, it conveyed a morti 
 fying lesson to him, which brought many quiet 
 hours, in future, to his cousin Marmaduke. It may 
 be remembered, that the Sheriff confidently pro 
 nounced this to be no visionary scheme, and that 
 word was enough to shut his lips, at any time 
 within the next ten years. 
 
 Monsieur Le Quoi, who has been introduced to 
 our readers, because no picture of that country 
 would be faithful without such a Gaul, found the 
 island of Martinique, and his " sucre-boosh," in 
 possession of the English; but Marmaduke and 
 
THE PIONEERS. 597 
 
 his family were much gratified in soon hearing 
 that he had returned to his bureau, in Paris ; 
 where he afterwards issued yearly bulletins of his 
 happiness, and of his gratitude to his friends in 
 America. 
 
 With this brief explanation, we must return to 
 our narrative. Let the American reader imagine 
 one of our mildest October mornings, when the sun 
 seems a ball of silvery fire, and tht elasticity of 
 the air is felt while it is inhaled ; imparting vigour 
 and life to the whole system ; the weather, nei 
 ther too warm, nor too cold, but of that happy tem 
 perature which stirs the blood, without bringing 
 the lassitude of spring. 
 
 It was on such a morning, about the middle of 
 the month, that Oliver entered the hall, where 
 Elizabeth was issuing her usual orders for the day, 
 and requested her to join him in a short excursion 
 to the lake side. The tender melancholy in the 
 manner of her husband caught the attention of 
 Elizabeth, who instantly abandoned her concerns, 
 threw a light shawl across her shoulders, and con 
 cealing her raven hair under her ginsy, she took 
 his arm, and submitted herself, without a question, 
 to his guidance. They crossed the bridge, and 
 had turned from the highway, along the margin of 
 the lake, before a word was exchanged. Eliza 
 beth well knew, by the direction they took, the 
 object of their walk, and respected the feelings of 
 her companion too much to indulge in untimely 
 conversation. But when they gained the open 
 fields, and*her eye roamed over the placid lake, 
 covered with wild fowl, already journeying from 
 the great Northern waters, to seek a warmer sun. 
 but lingering to play in the limpid sheet of the Ot- 
 eego, and to the sides of the mountain, which were 
 
598 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 gay with the thousand dies of autumn, as if to 
 grace their bridal, the swelling heart of the young 
 wife burst out in speech. 
 
 " This is not a time for silence, Oliver !" she 
 said, clinging more fondly to his arm ; " every thing 
 in nature seems to speak the praises of the Crea 
 tor; why should we, who have so much to be 
 grateful for, be silent ?" 
 
 " Speak on !" said her husband, smiling ; u I love 
 the sounds of your voice. You must anticipate 
 our errand hither ; I have told you my plans ; how 
 do you like them ?" 
 
 "I must first see them," returned his wife. 
 " But I have had my plans too ; it is time I should 
 begin to divulge them." 
 
 " You ! It is something for the comfort of my 
 old friend Natty, I know." 
 
 " Certainly of Natty ; but we have other friends 
 besides the Leather-stocking to serve. Do you 
 forget Louisa, and her father ?" 
 
 " No, surely ; have I not given one of the best 
 farms in the county to the good divine. As for 
 Louisa, I should wish you to keep her always near 
 us." 
 
 " You do," said Elizabeth, slightly compressing 
 her lips ; " but poor Louise may have other views 
 for herself; she may wish to follow my example, 
 and marry." 
 
 " I don t think it," said Effingham, musing a mo 
 ment ; " I really don t know any one hereabouts 
 good enough for her." 
 
 " Perhaps not here ; but there are other places 
 besides Templeton, and other churches besides 
 c New St. Paul s. " 
 
 " Churches, Elizabeth ! you would not wish to 
 lose Mr. Grant, stirely ! Though simple, he is aK 
 
THE PIONEERS. 599 
 
 excellent man. I shall never find another who has 
 half the veneration for my orthodoxy. You would 
 humble me from a saint to a very common sinner." 
 
 " It must be done, sir," returned the lady, with 
 a half-concealed smile, " though it degrades you 
 from an angel to a man." 
 
 " But you forget the farm." 
 
 " He can lease it, as others do. Besides, would 
 you have a clergyman toil in the fields ?" 
 
 " Where can he go ? you forget Louisa." 
 
 " No, I do not forget Louisa," said Elizabeth, 
 again compressing her beautiful lips. " You know, 
 Effingham, that my father has told you that I ruled 
 him, and that I should rule you. I am now about 
 to exert my power." 
 
 " Any thing, any thing, dear Elizabeth, but not at 
 the expense of us all ; not at the expense of your 
 friend." 
 
 " How do you know, sir, that it will be so much 
 at the expense of my friend ?" said the lady, fixing 
 her eyes with a searching look on his countenance, 
 where they met only the unsuspecting expression 
 of manly regret. 
 
 " How do I know it ? why, it is natural that 
 she should regret us." 
 
 " It is our duty to struggle with our natural feel 
 ings," returned the lady ; " and there is but little 
 cause to fear that such a spirit as Louisa s will not 
 effect it." 
 
 " But what is your plan ?" 
 
 " Listen, and you shall know. My father has 
 procured a call for Mr. Grant, to one of the towns 
 on the Hudson, where he can live more at his ease 
 than in journeying through these woods ; where he 
 can spend the evening of his life in comfort and 
 quiet ; and where his daughter may meet with such 
 
600 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 society, and form such a connexion, as may be pro 
 per for one of her years and character." 
 
 " Why, Bess ! you amaze me ! I did not think 
 you had been such a manager !" 
 
 " Oh ! I manage more deeply than you imagine, 
 sir," said the wife, archly smiling again ; " but it is 
 my will, and it is your duty to submit, for a time 
 at least." 
 
 Effingham laughed ; but as they approached the 
 end of their walk, the subject was changed by com 
 mon consent. 
 
 The place at which they arrived was the little 
 spot of level ground, where the cabin of the Leather- 
 stocking had so long stood. Elizabeth found it en 
 tirely cleared of rubbish, and beautifully laid down 
 in turf, by the removal of sods, which, in common 
 with the surrounding country, had grown gay, un 
 der the influence of profuse showers, as if a second 
 spring had passed over the land. This little place 
 was surrounded by a circle of mason work, and they 
 entered by a small gate, near which, to the surprise 
 of both, the rifle of Natty was leaning against the 
 wall. Hector and the slut reposed on the grass by 
 its side, as if conscious that, however altered, they 
 were lying on ground, and were surrounded by ob 
 jects, with which they were familiar. The hunter 
 himself was stretched on the earth, before a head 
 stone of white marble, pushing aside with his fin 
 gers the long grass that had already sprung up from 
 the luxuriant soil around its base, apparently to lay 
 bare the inscription that was there engraven. By 
 the side of this stone, which was a simple slab at 
 the head of a grave, stood a rich monument, deco 
 rated with an urn, and ornamented tastefully with 
 the chisel. 
 
 Oliver and Elizabeth approached the graves, with 
 
THE PIONEERS. 601 
 
 a light tread, unheard by the old hunter, whose sun 
 burnt face was working with his feelings, and whose 
 eyes twinkled as if something impeded their vision. 
 After some little time, Natty raised himself slowly 
 from the ground, and said aloud 
 
 " Well, well Pm bold to say it s all right ! 
 There s something that I suppose is reading ; but I 
 can t make any thing of it ; though the pipe and 
 the tomahawk, and the moccasins, be pretty well 
 pretty well, for a man that, I dares to say, never 
 seed ither of the things. Ah s me ! there they 
 lie, side by side, happy enough ! Who will there 
 be to put me in the arth, when my time comes ?" 
 
 " When that unfortunate hour arrives, Natty, 
 friends shall not be wanting to perform the last of 
 fices for you," said Oliver, a little touched at the 
 hunter s soliloquy. 
 
 The old man turned, without manifesting any sur 
 prise, for he had got the Indian habits in this par 
 ticular, and running his hand under the bottom of 
 his nose, seemed to wipe away his sorrow with the 
 action. 
 
 " You ve come out to see the graves, children, 
 have ye ?" he said ; " well, well, they re whole - 
 some sights to young as well as old." 
 
 " I hope they are fitted to your liking," said Ef- 
 fingham ; " no one has a better right than yourself 
 to be consulted in the matter." 
 
 " Why, seeing that I an t used to fine graves," 
 eturned the old man, " it is but little matter con- 
 sarning my taste. Ye laid the Major s head to the 
 west, and Mohegan s to the east, did ye, lad ?" 
 
 " At your request it was done." 
 
 " It s so best," said the hunter ; " they thought 
 they had to journey different ways, children ; though 
 there is One greater than all, who ll bring the just 
 
602 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 together ag m at his own time, and who ll whiten 
 the skin of a black-moor, and place him on a foot 
 ing with princes." 
 
 " There is but little reason to doubt that," said 
 Elizabeth, whose decided tones were changed to a 
 soft, melancholy voice ; " I trust we shall all meet 
 again, and be happy together." 
 
 " Shall we, child ? shall we ?" exclaimed the 
 hunter, with unusual fervour ; " there s comfort in 
 that thought too. But before I go, I should like to 
 know what tis you tell these people, that be flock 
 ing into the country like pigeons in the spring, of 
 the old Delaware, and of the bravest white man 
 that ever trod the hills." 
 
 Effingham and Elizabeth were surprised at the 
 manner of the Leather-stocking, which was unu 
 sually impressive and solemn ; but attributing it to 
 the scene, the young man turned to the monument, 
 and read aloud 
 
 " Sacred to the memory of Oliver Effingham, 
 Esquire, formerly a Major in his B. Majesty s 60th 
 Foot ; a soldier of tried valour; a subject of chival- 
 ric loyalty ; and a man of honesty. To these vir 
 tues, he added the graces of a Christian. The 
 morning of his life was spent in honour, wealth, 
 and power ; but its evening was obscured by po 
 verty, neglect, and disease, which were alleviated 
 only by the tender care of his old, faithful, and up 
 right friend and attendant, Nathaniel Bumppo. 
 His descendants rear this stone to the virtues of 
 the master, and to the enduring gratitude of the 
 servant." 
 
 The Leather-stocking stared at the sound of his 
 own name, and a smile of joy illumined his wrinkled 
 features, as he said 
 
 u And did ye say it, lad ? have you then got the 
 old man s name cut in the stone, by the side of his 
 
THE PIONEERS 603 
 
 master s ? God bless ye, children ! twas a kind 
 thought, and kindness goes to the heart as life 
 shortens." 
 
 Elizabeth turned her back to the speakers, but 
 the pure cambric, that contrasted to her dark eyes, 
 attested the feelings of the youthful bride. Effing- 
 ham made a fruitless effort to speak before he suc 
 ceeded in saying 
 
 " It is there cut in plain marble ; but it should 
 have been written in letters of gold !" 
 
 " Show me the name, boy," said Natty, with 
 simple eagerness ; u let me see my own name 
 placed in such honour. Tis a gin rous gift to a 
 man, who leaves none of his name and family be 
 hind him in a country, where he has tarried so 
 long." 
 
 Effingham guided his finger to the spot, and 
 Natty followed the windings of the letters to the 
 end, with deep interest, when he raised himself 
 from the tomb, and said 
 
 " I suppose it s all right, and it s kindly thought, 
 and kindly done ! But what have ye put over the 
 Red-skin ?" 
 
 " You shall hear" 
 
 " This stone is raised to the memory of an In 
 dian Chief, of the Delaware tribe, who was known 
 by the several names of John Mohesan : Mohi 
 can" 
 
 " Mo-hee-can, lad, they call theirselves ! he- 
 can." 
 
 ( Mohican ; and Chingagook" 
 
 Gach, boy ; gach-gook ; Chingachgook ; 
 which, intarpreted, means Big-sarpent. The name 
 should be set down right, for an Indian s name has 
 always some meaning in it." 
 
 " I will see it altered," said Edwards. u He 
 was the last of his people who continued to inha- 
 
604 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 bit this country ; and it may be said of him, em 
 phatically, that his faults were those of an Indian, 
 and his virtues those of a man. 7 
 
 " You never said truer word, Mr. Oliver ; ah s 
 me ! if you had know d him as I did, in his prime, 
 in that very battle, where the old gentleman, who 
 sleeps by his side, sav d his life, when them thieves, 
 the Iriquois, had him at the stake, you d have said 
 all that, and more too. I cut the thongs with this 
 very hand, and gave him my own tomahawk and 
 knife, seeing that the rifle was always my fav rite 
 weapon. He did lay about him like a man ! I met 
 him as I was coming home from the trail, with 
 eleven Mingo scalps on his pole. You needn t 
 shudder, Madam Effingham, for they was all from 
 shav d heads and warriors. When I look about 
 me, at these hills, where I used-to-could count 
 sometimes twenty smokes, curling over the tree- 
 tops, from the Delaware camps, it raises mournful 
 thoughts, to think, that not a Red-skin is left of 
 them all ; unless it may be a drunken vagabond 
 frqm the Oneidas, or them Yankee Indians, who, 
 they say, be moving up from the sea-shore ; and 
 who belong to none of God s creaters, to my seem 
 ing ; being, as it were, neither fish nor flesh ; nei 
 ther white man, nor savage. Well I well ! the 
 time has come at last, and I must go" 
 
 " Go !" echoed Edwards, " whither do you 
 go ?" 
 
 The Leather-stocking, who had imbibed, uncon 
 sciously, many of the Indian qualities, though he 
 always thought of himself as of a civilized being, 
 compared with even the Delawares, averted his 
 face to conceal the workings of his muscles, as he 
 stooped to lift a large pack fi om behind the tomb, 
 which he placed deliberately on his shoulders. 
 
 " Go !" exclaimed Elizabeth, approaching him, 
 
THE PIONEERS. 605 
 
 with a hurried step ; " you should not venture so 
 far in the woods alone, at your time of life, Natty ; 
 indeed, it is imprudent. He is bent, Effingham, on 
 some distant hunting." 
 
 " What Mrs. Effingham tells you is true, Leather- 
 stocking," said Edwards ; " there can be no neces 
 sity for your submitting to such hardships now ! So 
 throw aside your pack, and confine your hunt to the 
 mountains near us, if you will go." 
 
 " Hardship ! tis a pleasure, children, and the 
 greatest that is left me on this side the grave." 
 
 " No, no ; you shall not go to such a distance," 
 cried Elizabeth, smiling, and laying her white hand 
 on his deer-skin pack. " I am right ! I feel his 
 camp-kettle and a canister of powder ! he must not 
 be suffered to wander so far from us, Oliver ; re 
 member how suddenly Mohegan dropp d away." 
 
 " I know d the parting would come hard, chil 
 dren ; I know d it would !" said Natty, " and so I 
 got aside to look at the graves by myself, and 
 thought if I left ye the keep-sake which the Major 
 gave me, when we first parted in the woods, ye 
 wouldn t take it unkind, but would know, that, let 
 the old man s body go where it might, his feelings 
 staid behind him." 
 
 " This means something more than common !" 
 exclaimed the youth ; " where is it, Natty, that you 
 purpose going ?" 
 
 The hunter drew nigh him with a confident, rea 
 soning air, as if what he had to say would silence 
 all objections, and replied 
 
 " Why, lad, they tell me, that on the Big-lakes 
 there s the best of hunting, and a great range, with 
 out a white man on it, unless it may be one like my 
 self. I m weary of living in clearings, and where 
 the hammer is sounding in my ears from sunrise to 
 sundown. And though I m much bound to ye both 
 51 * 
 
606 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 children I wouldn t say it if it was not true 1 
 crave to go into the woods ag in, I do." 
 
 " Woods !" echoed Elizabeth, trembling with her 
 feelings ; " do you not call these endless forests 
 woods ?" 
 
 " Ah ! child, these be nothing to a man that s 
 used to the wilderness. I have took but little com 
 fort sin your father come on with his settlers ; but 
 I wouldn t go far, while the life was in the body 
 that lies under the sod there. But now he s gone, 
 and Chingachgook is gone ; and you be both young 
 and happy. Yes ! the big house has rung with 
 merriment this month past ! And now, I thought, 
 was the time to try to get a little comfort, in the 
 close of my days. Woods ! indeed ! I doesn t call 
 these woods, Madam Emngham, where I lose my 
 self, every day of my life, in the clearings." 
 
 " If there be any thing wanting to your comfort," 
 cried Oliver, " name it, Leather-stocking ; and if 
 it be attainable, it is yours." 
 
 " You mean all for the best, lad ; I know it - y 
 and so does Madam, too ; but your ways isn t my 
 ways. Tis like the dead there, who thought, when 
 the breath was in them, that one went east, and 
 one went west, to find their heavens ; but they ll 
 meet at last ; and so shall we, children. Yes, ind 
 as you ve begun, and we shall meet in the land of 
 the just at last." 
 
 " This is so new ! so unexpected !" said Eliza 
 beth, in almost breathless excitement ; " I had 
 thought you meant to live with us, and die with us, 
 Natty." 
 
 " Words are of no avail !" exclaimed her hus 
 band ; " the habits of forty years are not to be dis 
 possessed by the ties of a day. I know you too 
 well to urge you further, Natty ; unless you will 
 let me build you a hut, on one of the distant hills, 
 
THE PIONEERS. 607 
 
 where we can sometimes see you, and know that 
 you are comfortable." 
 
 " Don t fear the Leather-stocking, children ; God 
 will see that his days be provided for, and his ind 
 happy. I know you mean all for the best, but our 
 ways doesn t agree. I love the woods, and ye 
 relish the face of man ; I eat when hungry, and 
 drink when a-dry, and ye keep stated hours and 
 rules ; nay, nay, you even over-feed the dogs, lad, 
 from pure kindness ; and hounds should be gaunty 
 to run well. The meanest of God s creaters be 
 made for some use, and I m form d for the wilder 
 ness ; and, if ye love me, let me go where my soul 
 craves to be ag in !" 
 
 The appeal was decisive ; not another word of 
 entreaty for him to remain was then uttered ; but 
 Elizabeth bent her head to her bosom and wept, 
 while her husband dashed away the tears from his 
 eyes, and, with hands that almost refused to per 
 form their office, he produced his pocket-book, and 
 extended a parcel of bank-notes to the hunter. 
 
 " Take these," he said, " at least, take these ; 
 secure them about your person, and, in the hour of 
 need, they will do you good service." 
 
 The old man took the notes, and examined them 
 with a curious eye, when he said 
 
 " This, then, is some of the new-fashioned mo 
 ney that they ve been making at Albany, out of 
 paper ! It can t be worth much to they that hasn t 
 laming ! No, no, lad take back the stuff; it will 
 do me no sarvice. I took kear to get all the 
 Frenchman s powder, afore he broke up, and they 
 say lead grows where I m going. It isn t even fit 
 for wads, seeing that I use none but leather ! 
 Madam Effingham, let an old man kiss your hand, 
 and wish God s choicest blessings on you and 
 your n " 
 
608 THE PIONEERS. 
 
 u Once more let me beseech you, stay !" ciied 
 Elizabeth. " Do not, Leather-stocking, leave me 
 to grieve for the man, who has twice rescued me 
 from death, and who has served those I love so 
 faithfully. For my sake, if not for your own, stay. 
 I shall see you in those frightful dreams that still 
 haunt my nights, dying in poverty and age, by the 
 side of those terrific beasts you slew. There will 
 be no evil, that sickness, want, and solitude can in 
 flict, that my fancy will not conjure as your fate. 
 Stay with us, old man ; if not for your own sake, 
 at least for ours." 
 
 " Such thoughts and bitter dreams, Madam Ef- 
 fingham," returned the hunter, solemnly, " will 
 never haunt an innocent parson long. They ll pass 
 away with God s pleasure. And if the cat-a-mounts 
 be yet brought to your eyes in sleep, tis not for 
 my sake, but to show you the power of him that 
 led me there to save you. Trust in God, Madam, 
 and your honourable husband, and the thoughts for 
 an old man like me can never be long nor bitter. 
 I pray that the Lord will keep you in mind the 
 Lord that lives in clearings as well as in the wilder 
 ness and bless you, and all that belong to you, 
 from this time, till the great day when the whites 
 shall meet the red-skins in judgment, and justice 
 shall be the law, and not power." 
 
 Elizabeth raised her head, and offered her co 
 lourless cheek to his salute, when he lifted his cap, 
 and touched it respectfully. His hand was grasped 
 with convulsive fervour by the youth, who con 
 tinued silent. The hunter prepared himself for 
 his journey, drawing his belt tighter, and wasting 
 his moments in the little reluctant movements of a 
 sorrowful departure. Once or twice he essayed to 
 speak, but a rising in his throat prevented it. At 
 length he shouldered his rifle, and cried with a 
 
THE PIONEERS. G09 
 
 clear huntsman s call, that echoed through the 
 woods 
 
 " He-e-e-re, he-e-e-re, pups away, dogs, away; 
 ye li be foot-sore afore ye see the ind of the 
 journey !" 
 
 The hounds leaped from the earth at his cry, 
 and, scenting around the graves and the silent pair, 
 as if conscious of their own destination, they fol 
 lowed humbly at the heels of their master. A short 
 pause succeeded, during which even the youth con 
 cealed his face on his grandfather s tomb. When 
 the pride of manhood, however, had suppressed the 
 feelings of nature, he turned to renew his entrea 
 ties, but saw that the cemetery was occupied only 
 by himself and his wife. 
 
 " He is gone !" cried Effingham. 
 
 Elizabeth raised her face, and saw the old hunter 
 standing, looking back for a moment, on the verge 
 of the wood. As he caught their glances, he drew 
 his hard hand hastily across his eyes again, waved 
 it on high for an adieu, and, uttering a forced cry 
 to his dogs, who were crouching at his feet, he en 
 tered the forest. 
 
 This was the last that they ever saw of the Lea 
 ther-stocking, whose rapid movements preceded 
 the pursuit which Judge Temple both ordered and 
 conducted He had gone far towards the setting 
 sun, the foremost in that band of Pioneers, who 
 are opening the way for the march of our nation 
 across the continent. 
 
 THE END- 
 
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