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=e:
THE PIONEERS.
THE PIONHERS;
OE,
THE SOURCES OF THE SUSQUEHANNA.
A DESCRIPTIVH TALE.
BY
J. FENIMORE COOPER.
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.”
PAULDING.
NEW YORK:
De SP PLETON & COMPANY,
549 & 551 BROADWAY.
18738,
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1859, by
w. A. TOWNSEND AND COMPANY,
in the Clerk’s Office ~f the District Court for the Southern District of New York.
INTRODUCTION.
ae
As this work professes, in its titlepage, to be a de-
scriptive tale, they who will take the trouble to read _it
may be glad to know how much of its contents is literal
fact, and how much is intended to represent a general
picture. The Author is very sensible that, had he con-
fined himself to the latter, always the most effective,
as it is the most valuable, mode of conveying knowl-
edge of this nature, he would have made a far better
book. But in commencing to describe scenes, and per-
haps he may add characters, that were so familiar to
his own youth, there was a constant temptation to de-
lineate that which he had known, rather than that
which he might have imagined. This rigid adhesion
to truth, an indispensable requisite in history and trav-
els, destroys the charm of fiction; for all that is neces-
sary to be conveyed to the mind by the latter had
better be done by delineations of principles, and of
characters in their classes, than by a too fastidious at-
tention to originals.
745766
x INTRODUOTION.
New York having but one county of Otsego, and
the Susquehanna but one proper source, there can be
no mistake as to the site of the tale. ‘The history of
this district of country, so far as it is connected with
civilized men, is soon told.
Otsego, in common with most of the interior of the
province of New York, was included in the county of
Albany, previously to the war of the separation. It
then became, in a subsequent division of territory, a
part of Montgomery ; and, finally, having obtained a
sufficient population of its own, it was set apart as a
county by itself, shortly after the peace of 1783. It
lies among those low spurs of the Alleghanies which
— cover the midland counties of New York; and itisa
little east of a meridional line drawn through the center
of the state. As the waters of New York either flow
southerly into the Atlantic or northerly into Ontario,
and its outlet, Otsego Lake, being the source of the
Susquehanna, is, of necessity, among its highest lands.
The face of the country, the climate as it was found by
the whites, and the manners of the settlers, are de-
scribed with a minuteness for which the Author has no
other apology than the force of his own recollections.
Otsego is said to be a word compounded of Ot, a
place of meeting, and Sego, or Sago, the ordinary
term of salutation used by the Indians of this region.
There is a tradition which says, that the neighboring
tribes were accustomed to meet on the banks of the
lake to make their treaties, and otherwise to strengthen
their alliances, and which refers the name to this prac-
tice. As the Indian agent of New York had a log
INTRODUCTION. xi
dwelling at the foot of the lake, however, it is not im-
possible that the appellation grew out of the meetings
that were held at his council fires; the war drove off
the agent, in common with the other officers of the
crown; and his rude dwelling was soon abandoned.
The Author remembers it a few years later, reduced
to the humble office of a smoke-house.
In 1779, an expedition was sent against the hostile
Indians, who dwelt about a hundred miles west of
Otsego, on the banks of the Cayuga. The whole coun-
try was then a wilderness, and it was necessary to
transport the baggage of the troops by means of the
rivers—a devious but practicable route. One brigade
ascended the Mohawk, until it reached the point nearest
to the sources of the Susquehanna; whence it cut a
lane through the forest to the head of the Otsego. The
boats and baggage were carried over this “ portage,”
and the troops proceeded to the other extremity of the
lake, where they disembarked, and encamped. The
Susquehanna, a narrow though rapid stream at its
source, was much filled with “flood wood,” or fallen
trees; and the troops adopted a novel expedient to
facilitate their passage. The Otsego is about nine
miles in length, varying in breadth from half a mile
to a mile and a half. The water is of great depth,
limpid, and supplied from a thousand springs. At its
foot, the banks are rather less than thirty feet high;
the remainder of its margin being in mountains, inter-
vals, and points. The outlet, or the Susquehanna,
flows through a gorge in the low banks just mentioned
which may have a width of two hundred feet, This
xii ~ INTRODUCTION.
gorge was dammed, and the waters of the lake col.
lected: the Susquehanna was converted into a rill.
When all was ready, the troops embarked, the dam
was knocked away, the Otsego poured out its torrent,
and the boats went merrily down with the current.
General James Clinton, the brother of George Clin-
* ton, then governor of New York, and the father of De
Witt Clinton, who died governor of the same state in
1827, commanded the brigade employed on this duty.
During the stay of the troops at the foot of the Otsego
a soldier was shot for desertion. The grave of this
unfortunate man was the first place of human inter-
ment that the Author ever beheld, as the smoke-house
was the first ruin! The swivel alluded to in this work
was buried and abandoned by the troops on this occa-
sion; and it was subsequently found in digging the
cellars of the Author’s paternal residence.
Soon after the close of the war, Washington, accom-
panied by many distinguished men, visited the scene
of this tale, it is said, with a view to examine the
‘facilities for opening a communication by water with
other points of the country. He stayed but a few hours.
In 1785, the Author’s father, who had an interest in
_ extensive tracts of land in this wilderness, arrived
with a party of surveyors. The manner in which the
scene met his eye is described by Judge Temple. At
the commencement of the following year the settle-
ment began; and from that time to this the country
has continued to flourish. It is a singular feature in
American life, that, at the beginning of this century,
when the proprietor of the estate had occasion for set-
INTRODUOTION. xiil
tlers on a new settlement, and in a remote county, he
was enabled to draw them from among the increase of
the former colony.
Although the settlement of this part of Otsego a
little preceded the birth of the Author, it was not suf-
ficiently advanced to render it desirable that an event,
so important to himself, should take place in the wil-
derness. Perhaps his mother had a reasonable distrust
of the practice of Dr. Todd, who must then have been
in the novitiate of his experimental acquirements. Be
that as it may, the Author was brought an infant into
this valley, and all his first impressions were here ob-»
‘tained. He has inhabited it ever since, at intervals ;
and he thinks he can answer for the faithfulness of the
picture he has drawn.
Otsego has now become one of the most populous
districts of New York. It sends forth its emigrants
like any other old region; and it is pregnant with in-
dustry and enterprise. Its manufactures are prosper-
ous; and it is worthy of remark, that one of the most
ingenious machines known in European art is derived
from the keen ingenuity which is exercised in this re-
mote region.
In order to prevent mistake, it may be well to say
that the incidents of this tale are purely a fiction:-The
literal facts are chiefly connected with the natural and
artificial objects,.and the customs ofthe inhabitants.
Thus the academy, and court-house, and jail, and inn,
and most similar things, are tolerably exact. They
have all, long since, given place to other buildings of
amore pretending character. There is also some lib-
z1V INTRODUCTION.
erty taken with the truth in the description of the prin-
cipal dwelling: the real building had no “ firstly ” and
“lastly.” It was of bricks, and not of stone; and its
roof exhibited none of the peculiar beauties of the
“composite order.” It was erected in an age too prim-
itive for that ambitious school of architecture. But
the Author indulged his recollections freely when he
had fairly entered the door. Here all is literal, even
to the severed arm of Wolfe, and the urn which held
the ashes of Queen Dido.*
The Author has elsewhere said that the character
of Leather-Stocking is a creation, rendered probable
by such auxiliaries as were necessary to produce that
effect. Had he drawn still more upon fancy, the lovers
of fiction would not have so much cause for their objec-
tions to his work. Still the picture would not have been
in the least true, without some substitutes for most of
the other personages. The great proprietor resident
on his lands, and giving his name to, instead of receiv-
ing it from his estates, as in Europe, is common over
the whole of New York. The physician, with his
theory, rather obtained than corrected by experiments
on the human constitution; the pious, self-denying,
laborious, and ill-paid missionary ; the half-educated,
litigious, envious, and disreputable lawyer, with his
* Though forests still crown the mountains of Otsego, the bear, the
wolf, and the panther are nearly strangers to them. Even the innocent
deer is rarely seen bounding beneath their arches; for the rifle, and the
activity of the settlers, have driven them to other haunts. To this
change (which, in some particulars, is melancholy to one who knew the
country in its infancy) it may be added, that the Otsego is beginning ta
be a niggard of its treasures.
INTRODUCTION, »:@7
counterpoise, a brother of the profession, of better
origin and of better character; the shiftless, bargain-
ing, discontented seller of his “ betterments;” the plau-
sible carpenter, and most of the others, are more famil-
iar to all who have ever dwelt in a new country.
It may be well to say here, a little more explicitly,
that there was no intention to describe with particular
accuracy any real characters in this book. It has been
often said, and in published statements, that the hero-
ine of this book was drawn after a sister of the writer,
who was killed by a fall from a horse now near half a
century since. So ingenious is conjecture, that a per-
sonal resemblance has been discovered between the fic-
titious character and the deceased relative! It is
scarcely possible to describe two females of the same
class in life, who would be less alike, personally, than
Elizabeth Temple and the sister of the Author who
met with the deplorable fate mentioned. In a word,
they were as unlike in this respect, as in history, char-
acter, and fortunes. —
Circumstances rendered this sister singularly dear to
the author. After a lapse of half a century, he is
writing this paragraph with a pain that would induce
him to cancel it, were it not still more painful to have
it believed that one whom he regarded with a rever-
ence that surpassed the love of a brother, was converted
by him into the heroine of a work of fiction.
From circumstances which, after this introduction,
will be obvious to all, the Author has had more pleas-
ure in writing “The Pioneers” than the book will,
probably, ever give any of its readers. He is quite
xvi INTRODUCTION.
aware of its numerous faults, some of which he has
endeavored to repair in this edition; but as he has
—in intention, at least—done his full share in amusing
the world, he trusts to its good nature for overlooking
this attempt to please himself.
fu
THE PIONEERS,
OR THE
SOURCES OF THE SUSQUEHANNA.
CHAPTER I.
See, Winter comes, to rule the varied year,
Sullen and sad, with all his rising train ;
Vapors, and clouds, and storms.—
THOMSON.
Nzar the centre of the State of New York lies an extensive
district of country, whose surface is a succession of hills and
dales, or, to speak with greater deference to geographical defini-
tions, of mountains and valleys. It is among these hills that
the Delaware takes its rise; and flowing from the limpid lakes
and thousand springs of this region, the numerous sources of
the Susquehanna meander through the valleys, until, uniting
their streams, they form one of the proudest rivers of the United
States. The mountains are generally arable to the tops,
although instances are not wanting where the sides are jutted
with rocks, that aid greatly in giving to the country that
romantic and picturesque character which it so eminently pos-
sesses. The vales are narrow, rich, and cultivated; with
a stream uniformly winding through each. Beautiful and
thriving villages are found interspersed along the margins of
the small lakes, or situated at those points of the streams which
are favorable 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 direction, from the even and graceful
14 THE PIONEERS.
bottoms of the valleys, to the most rugged and intricate passes
of the hills. Academies, and minor edifices of learning, meet
the eye of the stranger at every few miles, as he winds his way
through this uneven territory; and places for the worship of
God abound with that frequency which characterizes a moral
and reflecting people, and with that variety of exterior and
canonical government which flows from unfettered liberty of
conscience. In short, the whole district is hourly exhibiting
how much can be done, in even a rugged country, and with a
severe climate, under the dominion of mild laws, and where
every man feels a direct interest in the prosperity of a common-
wealth, of which he knows himself to form a part. The expe-
dients of the pioneers who first broke ground in the settlement
of this country, are succeeded by the permanent improvements
of the yeoman, who intends to leave his remains to moulder
under the sod which he tills, or, perhaps, of the son, who, born
in the land, piously wishes to linger around the grave of his
father. Only forty years* have passed since this territory was
a wilderness.
Very soon after the establishment of the independence of the
‘States, by the peace of 1783, the enterprise of their citizens was
- directed to a development of the natural advantages of their
widely extended dominions. Before the war of the revolution
the inhabited parts of the colony of New York were limited to
less than a tenth of its possessions. A narrow belt of country,
extending for a short distance on either side of the Hudson,
with a similar occupation of fifty miles on the banks of the
Mohawk, together with the islands of Nassau and Staten, and a
few insulated settlements on chosen land along the margins of
streams, composed the country, which was then inhabited by
less than two hundred thousand souls. Within the short
period we have mentioned, the population has spread itself over
five degrees of latitude and seven of longitude, and has swelled
to a million and a half of inhabitants,t who are maintained in
‘- * The book was written in 1823,
t The population of New York is now (1831) quite 2,000,000.
;
THE PIONEERS, 15
abundance, and can look forward to ages before the evil day
must arrive, when their possessions shall become unequal to
their wants.
Our tale begins in 1793, about seven years after the com-
mencement of one of the earliest of those settlements, which
have conduced to effect that magical change in the power and
condition of the state, to which we have alluded.
It was near the setting of the sun, on a clear, cold day in
December, when a sleigh was moving slowly up one of the »
mountains, in the district we have described. The day had
been fine for the season, and but two or three large clouds,
whose color seemed brightened by the light reflected from the
mass of snow that covered the earth, floated in a sky of the
purest blue. The road wound along the brow of a precipice,
and on one side was upheld by a foundation of logs, piled one
upon the other, while a narrow excavation in the mountain, in
the opposite direction, had made a passage of sufficient width
for the ordinary travelling of that day. But logs, excavation,
and everything that did not reach several feet above the earth,
lay alike buried beneath the snow. A single track, barely wide
enough to receive the sleigh,* denoted the route of the highway,
and this was sunk nearly two feet below the surrounding sur-
face. In the vale, which lay at a distance of several hundred
feet. lower, there was what in the language of the country was
called a clearing, and all the usual improvements of a new set-
tlement; these even extended up the hill to the point where the
road turned short and ran across the level land, which lay on
the summit of the mountain; but the summit itself remained in
* Sleigh is the word used in every part of the United States to denote a traineau.
{1 is of local use in the west of England, whence it is most probably derived by the
Americans. The latter draw a distinction between a sled, or sledge, and a sleigh ;~,
the sleigh being shod with metal. Sleighs are also subdivided into two-horse and -
one-horse sleighs. Of the latter, there are the cutter, with thills so arranged as to_
permit the horse to travel in the side track; the “ pung,”’ or “ tow-pung,”’ which is
driven with a pole; and the “ gumper,’’ a rude construction used for temporary pur
p ses, in the new countries.
Many of the American sleighs are elegant, though the use of this mode of convey-
ance is much lessened with the melioration of the climate, consequent on the clear-
ing of the forests
16 THE PIONEERS.
; forest. There was a glittering in the atmosphere, as if it were
vfilled with innumerable shining particles; and the noble bay
horses that drew the sleigh were covered, in many parts, with a
coat of hoar frost. The vapor from their nostrils was seen to
issue like smoke ; and every object in the view, as well as every
arrangement of the travellers, denoted the depth of a winter in
the mountains. The harness, which was of a deep dull blaek,
differing from the glossy varnishing of the present day, was orna-
mented with enormous plates and buckles of brass, that shone
like gold in those transient beams of the sun, which found their
way obliquely through the tops of the trees. Huge saddles,
studded with nails, and fitted with cloth that served as blankets
to the shoulders of the cattle, supported four high, square-
topped turrets, through which the stout reins led’ from the
mouths of the horses to the hands of the driver, who was a
negro, of apparently twenty years of age. His face, which
nature had colored with a glistening black, was now mottled
with the cold, and his large shining eyes filled with tears; a tri-
bute to its power, that the keen frosts of those regions always
extracted from one of his African origin. Still there was a
~ smiling expression of good humor in his happy countenance,
that was created by the thoughts of home, and a Christmas
fire-side, with its Christmas frolics. The sleigh was one of
those large, comfortable, old-fashioned conveyances, which wouid
admit a whole family within its bosom, but which now con-
tained only two passengers besides the driver. The color of its
outside was a modest green, and that of its inside a fiery red.
The latter was intended to convey the idea of heat in that cold
climate. Large buffalo skins, trimmed around the edges with
‘ red cloth, cut into festoons, covered the back of the sleigh, and
were spread over its bottom, and drawn up around the feet of
the travellers—one of whom was a man of middle age, and the
- other a female, just entering upon womanhood. The former
was of a large stature; but the precautions he had taken to
guard against the oald, left but little of his person exposed to
view. A greatcoat, that was abundantly ornamented bv a
THE PIONEERS. 17
profusion of furs, enveloped the whole of his figure, excepting’
the head, which was covered with a cap of marten skins, lined
with morocco, the sides of which were made to fall, if neces- |
sary, and were now drawn close over the ears, and fastened |
beneath his chin with a black riband. The top of the cap was ©
surmounted with the tail of the animal whose skin had furnished “
the rest of the materials, which fell back, not ungracefully, a few
inches behind the head. From beneath this mask were to be
seen part of a fine manly face, and particularly a pair of express-
ive, large blue eyes, that promised extraordinary intellect, covert
humor, and great benevolence. The form of his companion
was literally hid beneath the garments she wore. There were |
furs and silks peeping from under a large camlet cloak, with a ©
thick flannel lining, that, by its cut and size, was evidently
intended for a masculine wearer. A huge hood of black silk,
that was quilted with down, concealed the whole of her head,
except at a small opening in front for breath, through which
occasionally sparkled a pair of animated jet-black eyes.
Both the father and daughter (for such was the connexion
between the two travellers) were too much occupied with their
reflections to break a stillness, that received little or no interrup-
tion from the easy gliding of the sleigh, by the sound of their
voices. The former was thinking of the wife that had held this
their only child to her bosom, when, four years before, she had
reluctantly consented to relinquish the society of her daughter,
in order that the latter might enjoy the advantages of an educa-
tion, which the city of New York could only offer at that period.
A few months afterwards death had deprived him of the remain-
ing companion of his solitude ; but still he had enough of real
regard for his child, not to bring her into the comparative
wilderness in which he dwelt, until the full period had expired,
to'which he had limited her juvenile labors. The reflections of
the daughter were less melancholy, and mingled with a pleased
astonishment at the novel scenery she met at every turn in the
road.
The mountain on which they were journeying was covered
18 THE PIONEERS.
with pines, that rose without a branch some seventy or eighty
feet, and which frequently doubled that height, by the addition
of the tops. Through the innumerable vistas that opened ©
beneath the lofty trees, the eye could penetrate, until it was
met by a distant inequality in the ground, or was stopped by a
view of the summit of the mountain, which lay on the opposite
side of the valley to which they were hastening. The dark
trunks of the trees rose from the pure white of the snow, i re-
gularly formed shafts, until, at a great height, their branches shot
forth horizontal limbs, that were covered with the meagre foliage
of an evergreen, affording a melancholy contrast to the torpor
of nature below. To the travellers, there seemed to be no wind ;
but these pines waved majestically at their topmost boughs,
sending forth a dull, plaintive sound, that was quite in conso-
nance with the rest of the melancholy scene.
The sleigh had glided for some distance along the even sur-
face, and the gaze of the female was bent in inquisitive, and,
perhaps, timid glances, into the recesses of the forest, when a
loud and continued howling was heard, pealing under the long
arches of the woods, like the ery of a numerous pack of hounds.
The instant the sound reached the ears of the gentleman, 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. 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, throwing aside his outer covering, stepped from the
sleigh upon a bank of snow, which sustained his weight without
yielding.
In a few moments the speaker succeeded in extricating a
double-barrelled fowling-piece from among a multitude of
THE PIONEERS. 19
trunks and bandboxes. After throwing aside the thick mittens
which had encased 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 a fine
buck darted into the path, a short distance ahead of him.
The appearance of the animal was sudden, and his flight
inconceivably rapid; but the traveller appeared to be too keen
a sportsman to be disconcerted by either. As it came first into
view he raised the fowling-piece to his shoulder, and, with a
practised eye and steady hand, drew a trigger. ‘The deer
dashed forward undaunted, and apparently unhurt. Without
lowering his piece, the traveller turned its muzzle towards his
victim, and fired again. Neither discharge, however, seemed
to have taken effect. |
The whole scene had passed with a rapidity that confused the
female, who was unconsciously rejoicing in the escape of the
buck, as he rather darted like a meteor, than ran across the
road, when a sharp quick sound struck her ear, quite different
from the full, round reports of her father’s gun, but. still
sufficiently distinct to be known as the concussion produced by
fire-arms. At the same instant that she heard this unexpected
report, the buck sprang from the snow to a great height in the
air, and directly a second discharge, similar in sound to the
first, followed, when the animal came to the earth, falling head-
long, and rolling over on the crust with its own velocity. A
loud shout was given by the unseen marksman, and a couple
of men instantly appeared from behind the trunks of two of the
pines, where they had evidently placed themselves in expecta
tion of the passage of the deer.
“Ha! Natty, had I known you were in ambush, I should
not have fired,” cried the traveller, moving towards the spot
where the deer lay—near to which he was followed by the
delighted black, with his sleigh; “ but the sound of old Hector
_ was too exhilarating to be quiet; though I hardly think I struck
him either.”
ee eal
20 THE PIONEERS.
“ No—no—Judge,” returned the hunter, with an inward
chuckle, and with that look of exultation that indicates a
consciousness of superior skill‘ “you burnt your powder only
to warm your nose this cold evening Did ye think to stop
a full grown buck, with Hector and the slut open upon him
within sound, with that pop-gun in your hand? There’s plenty
of pheasants among the swamps; and the snow-birds are flying
round your own door, where you may feed them with crumbs,
and shoot them at pleasure, any day; but if you’re for a buck,
or a little bear’s meat, Judge, you'll have to take the long rifle,
with a greased wadding, or you'll] waste more powder than
you'll fill stomachs, I’m thinking.”
As the speaker concluded, he drew his bare hand across the
bottom of his nose, and again opened his enormous mouth with
a kind of inward laugh.
“The gun scatters well, Natty, and it has killed a deer before
now,” said the traveller, smiling good-humoredly. “ One
barrel was charged with buck-shot; but the other was loaded
for birds only. Here are two hurts; one through the neck,
and the other directly through the heart. It is by no means
certain, Natty, but I gave him one of the two.”
“Let who will kill him,” said the hunter, rather surlily, “I
suppose the creature is to be eaten.” So saying, he drew a
large knife from a leathern sheath, which was stuck through his
girdle or sash, and cut the throat of the animal. “If there are
two balls through the deer, I would ask if there wer’n’t two
rifles fired—besides, who ever saw such a ragged hole from a
smooth-bore, as this through the neck?—and you will own
yourself, Judge, that the buck fell at the last shot, which was
sent from a truer and a younger hand, than your’n or mine
either; but for my part, although I am a poor man, I can live
without the venison, but I don’t love to give up my lawful dues
in a free country. Though, for the matter of that, might often
makes right here, as well as in the old country, for what I can
see,”
An air of sullen dissatisfaction pervaded the manner of the
THE PIONEERS. Q1
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 undisturbed good
humor, “it is for the honor that I contend. |’
THE PIONEERS. 131
“Hiram and the major-domo brought up the rear, the latter
grumbling, as he entered the building—
“ Tf-so-be that the King of France had so much as a house to
live in, that would lay aiong side of Paul’s, one might put up
with their jaw. It’s more than flesh and blood can bear, to
hear a Frenchman run down an English church in this manner
Why, Squire Doolittle, ’'ve been at the whipping of two of
them in one day—clean built, snug frigates, with standing-
royals, and them new-fashioned cannonades on their quarters—
auch 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,
bs
4
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rt)
133 _ THE PIONEERS.
CHAPTER XI.
And fools who came to scoff, remained to pray. GouLpsMITH.
Norwitustanpine the united labors of Richard and Benya:
min, the “ long-room” was but an extremely inartificial temple.
Benches, made in the coarsest manner, and entirely with a view
to usefulness, were arranged in rows, for the reception of the
congregation; while a rough, unpainted box, was placed
against the wall, in the centre of the length of the apartment,
as an apology for a pulpit. Something like a reading-desk
was in front of this rostrum ; and a small mahogany table, from
the mansion-house, covered with a spotless damask cloth, stood
a little on one side, by the way of an altar. Branches of pines -
and hemlocks were stuck in each of the fissures that offered, in
the unseasoned and hastily-completed 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 windows were without
shutters, it would have been but a dreary, cheerless place for
the solemnities of a Christmas-eve, had not the large fire that
was crackling at each end of the apartment, given an air of
cheerfulness to the scene, by throwing an occasional glare of
light through the vistas of bushes and faces.
The two sexes were separated by an area in the centre of the
room immediately before the pulpit; and a few benches lined
this space, that were occupied by the principal personages of
the village and its vicinity. This distinction was rather a gra-
tuitous concession, made by the poorer and less polished part of
the population, than a right claimed by the favored few. Ono
THE PIONEERS. 133
bench was occupied by the party of Judge Temple, including ,
his daughter ; and, with the exception of Dr. Todd, no one else
appeared willing to incur the imputation of pride, by taking a
seat in what was, literally, the high place of the tabernacle.
Richard filled the chair that was placed behind another table,
in the capacity of clerk; while Benjamin, after heaping sundry
jogs on the fire, posted himself nigh by, in reserve for any
movement that might require co-operation. :
It would greatly exceed our limits to attempt a description
of the congregation; for the dresses were as various as the indi-
viduals. Some one article, of more than usual finery, and per- ‘
haps 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
generations, over coarse, woollen black stockings; that, a shawl,
whose dyes were as numerous as those of the rainbow, over an
awkwardly fitting gown, of rough brown “woman’s wear.” In_
short, each one exhibited some favorite article, and all appeared
in their best, both men and women; while the ground-works in
dress, in either sex, were the coarse fabrics manufactured within.
their own dwellings. One man appeared in the dress of a
volunteer company of artillery, of which he had been a member
in the “down countries,” precisely for no other reason than
because it was the best suit he had. Several, particularly of
the younger men, displayed pantaloons of blue, edged with red
cloth down the seams, part of the equipments of the “ Templeton
Light Infantry,” from a little vanity to be seen in “ boughten
clothes.” There was also one man in a “rifle frock,” with its
fringes and folds of spotless white, striking a chill to the heart
with the idea of its coolness; although the thick coat of brown
“home made,” that was concealed beneath, preserved a proper
degree of warmth.
There was a marked uniformity of expression in countenance,
especially in that half of the congregation who did not enjoy the
advantages of the polish of the village. A sallow skin, that
indicated nothing but exposure. was common to all, as was an
134 THE PIONEERS.
air of great decency and attention, mingled, generally, with ar
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 descrip-
tion. If pock-marked and florid, with gaitered legs, and a coat
chat 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 coior, with high
cheek bones, it was a native of Scotland, in similar circumstances.
The short, black-eyed man, with a cast of the swarthy Spa-
niard in his face, who rose repeatedly, to make room for the
belles of the village as they entered, was a son of Erin, who
had lately left off his pack, and become a stationary trader in
Templeton. In short, half the nations in the north of Europe
had their representatives in this assembly, though all had closely
assimilated themselves to the Americans in dress and appear-
ance, except the Englishman. He, indeed, not only adhered
to his native customs in attire and living, but usually drove
his plough, among the stumps, in the same manner as he had
before done on the plains of Norfolk, until. dear-bought
experience taught him the useful lesson, that a sagacious
people knew what was suited to their circumstances better than
a casual observer ; or a sojourner, who was, perhaps, too much
prejudiced to compare, and, peradventure, too conceited to ,
learn.
Elizabeth soon discovered that she divided the attention of
the congregation with Mr. Grant. ‘Timidity, therefore, confined
her observation of the appearances which we have described to
stolen glances; but, as the stamping of feet was’ now becoming
less frequent, and even the coughing, and other little prelimina-
ries of a congregation settling themselves down into’ reverential
attention, were ceasing, she felt emboldened to look around her.
Gradually all noises diminished, until the suppressed cough
denoted that it was necessary to avoid singularity, and the most
profound stillness pervaded the apartment. The snapping of
the fires, as they threw a powerful heat into the room, was
THE PIONEERS. - 135
alone heard, and each face, and every eye, were turned on the
divine.
At this moment, a heavy stamping of feet was heard in the
passage below, as if a new comer was releasing his limbs from
the snow that was necessarily clinging to the legs of a pedestrian.
It was succeeded by no audible tread; but directly Mohegan,
followed by the Leather-stocking and the young hunter, made
his appearance. Their footsteps would not have been heard, as
they trod the apartment in their moccasins, but for the silence
which prevailed.
The Indian moved with great gravity across the floor, and,
observing a vacant seat next to the Judge, he took it, in a
manner that manifested his ‘sense of his own dignity. Here,
drawing his blanket closely around him, so as partly to conceal
his countenance, he remained, during the service, immovable,
but deeply attentive. Natty passed the place that was so
freely taken by his red companion, and seated himself on one
end of a log that was lying near the fire, where he continued,
with his rifle standing between his legs, absorbed in reflections,
seemingly of no very pleasing nature. The youth found a seat
among the congregation, and another silence prevailed.
Mr. Grant now arose, and commenced his service, with the
sublime declaration of the Hebrew prophet—‘“ The Lord is in
his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him.”
The example of Mr. Jones was unnecessary to teach the con-
gregation to rise; the solemnity of the divine effected this as
by magic. After a short pause, Mr. Grant. proceeded with the
solemn and winning exhortation of his service. Nothing was
heard but the deep, though affectionate, tones of the reader, as
he slowly went through this exordium ; until, something unfor-
tunately 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 congregation so far imitated his example as to resume their
seats; whence no succeeding effort of the divine, during the
evening, was able to remove them in a body. Some rose at
136 THE PIONEERS.
times ; but by far the larger part continued unbending ; obser-
vant, it is true, but it was the kind of observation that regarded
the ceremony as a spectacle rather than a worship in which
they were to participate. Thus deserted by his clerk, Mr. Grant
continued to read; but no response was audible. The short
and solemn pause that succeeded each petition was made; still
no voice repeated the eloquent language of the prayer.
The lips of Elizabeth moved, but they moved in vain; and,
accustomed as she was to the service in the churches of the
metropolis, she was beginning to feel the awkwardness of the
circumstance most painfully, when a soft, low, female voice
repeated after the priest, “ We have left undone those things
which we ought to have done.” Startled at finding one of her
own sex in that place, who could rise superior to natural timidity,
Miss Temple turned her eyes in the direction of the penitent.
She observed a young female on her knees, but a short distance
from her, with her meek face humbly bent over her book.
The appearance of this stranger, for such she was, entirely, to
Elizabeth, was light and fragile. Her dress was neat and
becoming; and her countenance, though pale and slightly
agitated, excited deep interest by its sweet and melancholy
expression. A second and third response were made by this
juvenile assistant, when the manly sounds of a male voice pro-
ceeded from the opposite part of the room. Miss Temple knew
the tones of the young hunter instantly, and struggling to over-
come her own diffidence, she added her low voice to the number.
All this time Benjamin stood thumbing the leaves of a
prayer-book with great industry ; but some unexpected difficul-
ties prevented his finding the place. Before the divine reached
the close of the confession, however, Richard reappeared at the
door, and, as he moved lightly across the room, he took up the
response, in a veice that betrayed no other concern than that of
not being heard. In his hand he carried a small open box, with
the figures “8 by 10” written in black paint on one of its
sides ; which, having placed in the pulpit, apparently as a foot-
stool for the divine, he returned to his station in time to say
THE PIONEERS. 137
norously, “ Amen.” The eyes of the congregation, very natu-
ly, were turned to the windows, as Mr. Jones entered with
is singular load; and then, as if accustomed to his “ general
ency,” were again bent on the priest, in close and curious
tention.
The long experience of Mr. Grant admirably qualified him to
perform his present duty. He well understood the character of
his listeners, who were mostly a primitive people in their habits ;
and ‘who, being a good deal addicted to subtleties and nice
distinctions in their religious opinions, viewed the introduction
of any such temporal assistance as form, into their spiritual
worship, not only with jealousy, but frequently with diseust.
He had acquired much of his knowledge from studying the great
book of human nature, as it lay open in the world; and, know-
ing how dangerous it was to contend with ignorance, uniformly
endeavored to avoid dictating where his better reason taught
him it was the most prudent to attempt tolead. His orthodoxy
had no dependence on his cassock; he could pray with fervor
and with faith, if circumstances required it, without the assistance
of his clerk; and he had even been known to preach a most
evangelical sermon, in the winning manner of native eloquence,
without the aid of a cambric handkerchief.
In the present instance he yielded, in many places, to the
prejudices of his congregation; and when he had ended, there
there was not one of his new hearers who did not think the
ceremonies less papal and offensive, and more conformant to his
or her own notions of devout worship, than they had been led
to expect from a service of forms. Richard found in the divine,
during the evening, a most powerful co-operator in his religious _
schemes. In preaching, Mr. Grant endeavored to steer a middle
course between the mystical doctrines of those sublimated creeds
which daily involve their professors in the most absurd contra-
dictions, and those fluent rules of moral government, which
would reduce the Saviour to a level with the teacher of a school
of ethics. Doctrine it was necessary to preach, for nothing less
would have satisfied the disputatious people who were his
138 THE PIONEERS.
listeners, and who would have interpreted silence on his 6
into a tacit acknowledgment of the superficial nature of r
creed. We have already said that, among the endless vai t
of religious instructors, the settlers were accustomed. to hear evea
denomination urge its own distinctive precepts; and to haa
found one indifferent to this interesting subject, would have bee
destructive to his influence. But Mr. Grant so happily blendéd
the universally received opinions of the Christian faith with ‘the
dogmas of his own church, that, although none were entirely
exempt from the influence of his reasons, very few took any
alarm at the innovation.
“ When we consider the great diversity of the ens cha-
racter, influenced as it is by education, by opportunity, and by
the physical and moral conditions of the creature, my dear
hearers,” he earnestly concluded, “it can excite no surprise, that
creeds so very different in their tendencies, should grow out of a
religion, revealed, it is true, but whose revelations are obscured
by the lapse of ages, and whose doctrines were, after the fashion
of the countries in which they were first promulgated, frequently
delivered in parables, and in a language abounding in meta-
phors, and loaded with figures.. On points where the learned
have, in purity of heart, been compelled to differ, the unlettered
will necessarily be at variance. But, happily for us, my breth-
ren, the fountain of divine love flows from a source too pure to
admit of pollution in its course; it extends, to those who drink
of its vivifying waters, the peace of the righteous, and life ever-
lasting ; 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 believe in doctrines that seem not in con-
formity with the deductions of human. wisdom, let us never
forget, that such is the mandate of a wisdom that is infinite. It
is sufficient for us that enough is developed to point our path
aright, and to direct our wandering steps to that portal which
shall open on the light of an eternal day. Then, indeed, it may
THE PIONEERS. 139
be humbly hoped that the film which has been spread by the
subtleties of earthly arguments, will be dissipated by the spiritual
light of Heaven; and that our hour of probation, by the aid of
divine grace, being once passed in triumph, will be followed by
an eternity of intelligence, and endless ages of fruition. All
that is now obscure shall become plain to our expanded faculties ;
and what to our present senses may seem irreconcilable to our
limited notions of mercy, of justice, and of love, shall stand,
irradiated by the light of truth, confessedly the suggestions of
Omniscience, and the acts of an All-powerful Benevolence.
“What a lesson of humility, my brethren, might not each of
us obtain from a review of his infant hours, and the recollection
of his juvenile passions! How differently do the same acts of
parental rigor appear, in the eyes of the suffering child, and of
the chastened man! When the sophist would supplant, with
the wild theories of his worldly wisdom, the positive mandates
of inspiration, let him remember the expansion of his own feeble
intellects, and pause—let him feel the wisdom of God in what
is partially concealed, as well as in that which is revealed ;—in
short, let him substitute humility for ieee of reason—let him
have faith, and live!
“The consideration of this subject is full of consolation, my
hearers, and does not fail to bring with it lessons of humility and
of profit, that, duly improved, would both chasten the heart and
strengthen the feeble-minded man in his course. It is a blessed
consolation to be able to lay the misdoubtings of our arrogant
nature at the threshold of the dwelling-place of the Deity, from
whence they shall be swept away, at the great opening of the
portal, ike 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 are in danger of
being weak, when our vanity would fain soothe us into the
belief that we are most strong; it forcibly points out to us the
vain-glory of intellect, and shows us the vast difference between
140 THE PIONEERS.
\ a saving faith and the corollaries of a philosophical theology ;
and it teaches us to reduce our self-examination to the test of
good works. By good works must be understood the fruits of
repentance, the chiefest of which is charity. Not that charity
only, which causes us to help the needy and comfort the suffer-
ing, but that feeling of universal philanthropy, which, by teach-
ing us to love, causes us to judge with lenity, all men; striking
at the root of self-righteousness, and warning us to be sparing
of our condemnation of others, while our own salvation is not
yet secure.
“The lesson of expediency, my brethren, which I would
gather from the consideration of this subject, is most strongly
inculcated by humility. On the 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 heresies have polluted every
church, and schisms are the fruits of disputation. In order to
arrest these dangers, and to insure the union of his followers,
it would seem that Christ had established his visible church,
and delegated the ministry. Wise and holy men, the fathers of
our religion, have expended their labors in clearing what was
revealed from the obscurities of language, and the results of their
experience and researches have been embodied in the form of
evangelical discipline. That this discipline must be salutary,
is evident from the view of the weakness of human nature that
we have already taken; and that it may be profitable to us,
and all who listen to its precepts and its liturgy, may God, in
his infinite wisdom, grant.—And now to,” &c.
With this ingenious reference to his own forms and ministry,
Mr. Grant concluded the discourse. The most profound atten-
tion had been paid to the sermon during the whole of its
delivery, although the prayers had not been received with so
perfect a demonstration of respect. This was by no means an
intended slight of that liturgy to which the divine alluded, but
was the habit of a people, who owed their very existence, as a
distinct nation, to the doctrinal character of their ancestors.
THE PIONEERS. 141
Sundry looks of private dissatisfaction were exchanged between
Hiram and one or two of the leading members of the conference,
but the feeling went no further at that time; and the congrega-
tion, after receiving the blessing of Mr. Grant, dispersed in
silence, and with great decorum.
142 THE PIONEERS
CHAPTER XII.
Your creeds and dogmas of a learned church
May build a fabric, fair with moral beauty ;
But it would seem, that the strong hand of God
Can, only, ’rase the devil from the heart.
Duo.
Wuttz 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 preced-
ing chapter, and presented her as his daughter. Her reception
was as cordial and frank as the manners of the country, and the
value of good society, could render it; the two young women
feeling, instantly, that they were necessary to the comfort of
each other. The Judge, to whom the clergyman’s daughter
was also a stranger, was pleased to find one who, from habits, sex,
and years, could probably contribute largely to the pleasures of
his own child, during her first privations, on her removal from
the associations of a city to the solitude of Templeton; while
Elizabeth, who had been forcibly struck with the sweetness and
devotion of the youthful suppliant, removed the slight embar-
rassment of the timid stranger, by the ease of her own manners,
They were at once acquainted; and, during the ten minutes
that the “academy” was clearing, engagements were made
between the young people, not only for the succeeding day, but
they would probably have embraced in their arrangements half
of the winter, had not the divine interrupted them, by saying—
“Gently, gently, my dear Miss Temple, or you will make my
girl too dissipated. You forget that she is my housekeeper, and
that my domestic affairs must remain unattended to, should
Louisa accept of half the kind offers you are so good as to make
her.”
|
\
THE PIONEERS. 143
“And why should they not be neglected entirely, sir”
interrupted Ehzabeth. “There are but two of you; and certain
I am that my father’s house will not only contain you both, but
will open its doors spontaneously, to receive such guests.
Society is a good, not to be rejected on account of cold forms,
in this wilderness, sir; and I have often heard my father say,
that hospitality is not a virtue in a new country, the favor being
conferred by the guest.”
“The manner in which Judge Temple exercises its rites
would confirm this opinion; but we must not trespass too
freely. Doubt not that you will see us often, my child parti-
cularly, during the frequent visits that I shall be compelled to
make to the distant parts of the couutry. But to obtain an
influence with such a people,” he continued, glancing his eyes
towards the few who were still lingering, curious observers of
the interview, “a clergyman must not awaken envy or distrust,
by dwelling under so splendid a roof as that of Judge Tempie.”
“ You like the roof, then, Mr. Grant,” cried Richard, who had
been directing the extinguishment of the fires, and other little
necessary duties, and who approached in time to hear the close
of the divine’s speech,—* I am glad to find one man of taste at
last. Here’s ’duke, now, pretends to call it by every abusive
name he can invent; but though ’duke is a very tolerable judge,
he is a very poor carpenter, let me tell him. Well, sir, well, I
think we may say, without boasting, that the service was as
well 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 the
psalm with a very good air. I used to lead myself, but latterly
I have sung nothing but bass. There is a good deal of science
to be shown in the bass, and it affords a fine opportunity to
show off a full, deep voice. Benjamin, too, sings a good bass,
though he is often out in the words. Did you ever hear Ben-
jamin sing the ‘ Bay of Biscay, O? ”
“T believe he gave us part of it this evening,” said Marma-
duke, laughing. “There was, now and then, a fearful quaver
?
144 THE PIONEERS.
~
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 sweeping 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-morrow, with
Elizabeth.”
The parties separated, Richard holding a close dissertation
with Mr. Le Quoi, as they descended the stairs, on the subject
of psalmody, which he closed by a violent eulogium on the air
of the “Bay of Biscay, O,” as particularly connected with
his friend Benjamin’s execution. :
During the preceding dialogue, Mohegan retained his seat,
with his head shrouded in his blanket, as seemingly inattentive
to surrounding objects as the departing congregation was,
itself, to the presence of the aged chief. Natty, also, continued
on the log where he had first placed himself, with his heaa
resting on one of his hands, while the other held the nfle,
which was thrown carelessly across his lap. His countenance
expressed uneasiness, and the occasional unquiet glances that he
had thrown around him during the service, plainly indicated
some unusual causes for unhappiness. His continuing seated
was, however, out of respect to the Indian chief, to whom he
paid the utmost deference on all occasions, although it was
mingled with the rough manner of a hunter,
The young companion of these two ancient inhabitants of the
forest remained also, standing before the extinguished brands,
probably from an unwillingness to depart without his comrades.
‘The room was now deserted by all but this group, the divine,
aud his daughter. As the party from the Mansion-house dis-
appeared, John arose, and dropping the blanket from his head,
he shook back the mass of black hair from his face, and ap-
proaching Mr. Grant, he extended his hand, and said solemnly—
“Father, J thank you, The words that have been said,
THE PIONEERS. 145
since the rising moon, have gone upward, and the Great Spirit
is glad. What you have told your children, they will remem-
ber, and be good.” He paused a moment, and then, elevating
himself with the grandeur of an Indian chief, he added,——“ If
Chingachgook lives to travel 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 good talk he has heard; and they will believe him; for
who can say that Mohegan has ever lied 2”
“Let him place his dependence on the goodness of Divine
mercy,” said Mr. Grant, to whom the proud consciousness of
the Indian sounded a little heterodox, “ and it never will desert
him. When the heart is filled with love to God, there is no
room for sin.—But, young man, to you I owe not only an obli-
gation, 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. |
should be happy to see you sometimes at my dwelling, when,
perhaps, my conversation may strengthen you in the path which
you appear to have chosen. It is so unusual to find one of
your age and appearance, in these woods, at all acquainted with
our holy liturgy, that it lessens at once the distance between us,
and I feel that we are no longer strangers. You seem quite at
home in the service: I did not perceive that you had even a
book, although good Mr. Jones had laid several in different
parts of the room.”
“Tt would be strange if I were ignorant of the service of our
church, sir,” returned the youth modestly ; “ for I was baptized
in its communion, and I have never yet attended public worship
elsewhere. For me to use the forms of any other denomina-
tion, would be as singular as our own have proved to the people
here this evening.”
“You give me great pleasure, my dear sir,” cried the divine,
seizing the other by the hand, and shaking it cordially. “You
will go home with me now—indeed you must—my child has
yet to thank you for saving my life. I will listen to no apolo-
146 THE PIONEERS.
gies. This worthy Indian, and your friend, there, will aceom-
pany us.—Bless me! to think that he has arrived at manhood
in this country, without entering a dissenting* meeting-house !”
“ No, no,” interrupted the Leather-stocking, “I must away to
the wigwam; there’s work there that mustn’t be forgotten for
all your churchings and merry-makings. Let the lad go with
you in welcome; he is used to keeping company with ministers,
aud talking of such matters; so is old John, who was christian-
ized by the Moravians about the time of the old war. But I
am a plain, unlarned man, that has sarved both the king and
his country, in his day, 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 never seen the use of such in-door work,
though I have lived-to be partly bald, and in my time have
killed two hundred beaver in a season, and that without count-
ing the other game. If you mistrust what I am telling you,
you can ask Chingachgook there, for I did it in the heart of the
Delaware country, and the old man is knowing to the truth of
every word I say.”
“TI doubt not, my friend, that you have been both a valiant
soldier and skilful hunter in your day,” said the divine; “but
more is wanting to prepare you for that end which approaches.
You may have heard the maxim, that ‘young men may die,
but that old men must.’” .
“Tm sure I never was so great a fool as to expect 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.
T’ve a strong constitution, I must say that for myself, as is plain
to be seen; for I’ve drunk the Onondaga water a hundred
times, while I’ve been watching the deer-licks, when the fever-
an-agy seeds was to be seen in it as plain and as plenty as you
* The divines of the Protestant Episcopal Church of the United States, commonly
call other denominations Dissenters, though there never was an established church
in their own country!
THE PIONEERS. 14%
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 acquainted with religion, too; though you might
look a week, now, and not find even the stump of a pine oa
them; and that’s a wood that lasts in the ground the better
part of a hundred years after the tree is dead.”
“This is but time, my good friend,” returned Mr. Grant, who
began to take an interest in the welfare of his new acquaintance,
“but I would have you prepare for eternity. It is incumbent
on you to attend places of public worship, as I am pleased to
see that you have done this evening. Would it not be heedless
in you to start on a day’s toil of hard hunting, and leave your
ramrod and flint behind ?”
“Tt must be a young hand in the woods,” interrupted Natty,
with another laugh, “that didn’t know how to dress a rod out
of an ash sapling, or find a fire-stone in the mountains. No,
no, I never expected to live for ever; but I see, times be altering
in these mountains from what they was thirty years ago, or, for
that matter, ten years. But might makes right, and the law
is stronger than an old man, whether he is one that has much
larning, 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 scarce, and raised the price of
gunpowder ; and that’s a thing that’s not as easily made as a
ramrod or an Indian flint.”
The divine, perceiving that he had given his opponent an
argument by his own unfortunate selection of a comparison,
very prudently relinquished the controversy ; although he was
fully determined to resume it at a more happy moment.
Repeating his request to the young hunter, with great earnest-
ness, the youth and Indian consented to accompany him and
his daughter to the dwelling that the care of Mr. Jones had
provided for their temporary residence. Leather-stocking per-
148 THE PIONEERS.
severed in his intention of returning to the hut, and at the door
of the building they separated.
After following the course of one of the streets of the village
a short distance, Mr. Grant, who led the way, turned into a
field, through a pair of open bars, and entered a footpath, of
but sufficient width to admit one person to walk in it at a time.
The moon had gained a height that enabled her to throw her
rays perpendicularly on the valley; and the distinct shadows
of the party flitted along on the banks of the silver snow, like
the presence of aerial figures, gliding to their appointed place
of meeting. The night still continued intensely cold, although
not. a breath of wind was felt. The path was beaten so hard,
that the gentle female, who made one of the party, moved with
ease along’ its windings; though the frost emitted a low creak-
ing 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 which was
its characteristic, presented the first object in this singular group.
Next to him moved the Indian, his hair falling about his face,
his head uncovered, and the rest of his form concealed. beneath
his blanket. As his swarthy visage, with its muscles fixed in
rigid composure, was seen under the light of the moon which
struck his face obliquely, he seemed a picture of resigned old
age on whom the storms of winter had beaten in vain for the
greater part of a century; but when, in turning his head, the
rays fell directly on his dark, fiery eyes, they told a tale of
passions unrestrained, and of thoughts free as air. The slight
person of Miss Grant, which followed next, and which was but
too thinly clad for the severity of the season, formed a marked
contrast to the wild attire and uneasy glances of the Delaware
chief; and more than once during their walk, the young hunter,
himself no insignificant figure in the group, was led to consider
the difference in the human form, as the face of Mohegan, and
the gentle countenance of Miss Grant, with eyes that rivalled the
THE PIONEERS 149
soft hue of the sky, met his view at the instant that each turned
to throw a glance at the splendid orb which lighted their path.
Their way, which led through fields that lay at some distance
in the rear of the houses, was cheered by a conversation that
flagged or became animated with the subject. The first to
speak was the divine. '
“Really,” he said, “it is so singular a circumstance to meet
with one of your age, that has not been induced by idle curiosity
to visit any other church than the one in which he has been
educated, that I feel a strong curiosity to know the history of a
life so fortunately regulated. Your education must have been
excellent ; as indeed is evident from your manners and language.
Of which of the States are you a native, Mr. Edwards ? for such,
I believe, was the name that you gave Judge Temple.”
“ Of this.”
“Of this! I was at a loss to conjecture, from your dialect,
which does not partake, particularly, of the peculiarities of any
country with which I am acquainted. You have, then, resided
much in the cities, for no.other part of this country is so fortu-
nate as to possess the constant enjoyment of our excellent
liturgy.”
The young hunter smiled, as he listened to the divine while
he so clearly betrayed from what part of the country he had
come himself; but for reasons probably connected with his
present situation, he made no answer.
“T am delighted to meet with you, my young friend, for I
think an ingenuous mind, such as I doubt not yours must he,
will exhibit all the advantages of a settled doctrine and devout
liturgy. You perceive how I was compelled to bend to the
humors of my hearers this evening. Good Mr. Jones wished
me to read the communion, and, in fact, all the morning ser-
vice ; but, happily, the canons do not require this of an evening.
It would have wearied a new congregation: but to-morrow |
purpose administering the sacrament. Do you commune, my
young friend ?”
“T believe not, sir,” returned the youth, with a little embar-
150 THE PIONEERS.
rassment, that was not at all diminished by Miss Grant’s
pausing involuntarily, and turning her eyes on him in surprise
—‘T fear that I am not qualified ; I have never yet approached
the altar; neither would I wish to do it, while I find so much
of the world clinging to my heart.”
“‘Kach must judge for himself,” said Mr. Grant; “though |
should think that a youth who had never been blown about by
the wind of false doctrines, and who has enjoyed the advan-
tages of our liturgy for so many years in its purity, might
safely come. Yet, sir, it is a solemn festival, which none should
celebrate until there is reason to hope it is not mockery. I
observed this evening, in your manner to Judge Temple, a re-
sentment that bordered on one of the worst of human passions.
We will cross this brook on the ice: it must bear us all, I think,
in safety.—Be careful not to slip, my child.” While speaking,
he descended a little bank by the path, and crossed one of the
small streams that poured their waters into the lake; and,
turning to see his daughter. pass, observed that the youth had
advanced, and was kindly directing her footsteps. When all
were safely over, he moved up the opposite bank, and continued
his discourse.—“ It was wrong, my dear sir, very wrong, to
suffer such feelings to rise, under any circumstances, and espe-
cially in the present, where the evil was not intended.”
“There is good in the talk of my father,” said Mohegan,
stopping short, and causing those who were behind him to
pause also; “it is the talk of Miquon. The white man may do
as his fathers have told him; but the ‘Young Eagle’ has the
blood of a Delaware chief in his veins: it is red, and the stain it
makes can only be washed out with the blood of a Mingo.”
Mr. Grant was surprised by the interruption of the Indian,
and, stopping, faced the speaker. His mild features were
confronted to the fierce and determined looks of the chief,
and expressed the horror he felt at hearmg such sentiments
from one who professed the religion of his Saviour. Raising his
hands to a level with his head, he exclaimed—
“John, John! is this the religion that you have learned from
THE PIONEERS. 15)-
the Moravians? But no—TI will not be so uncharitable as to
suppose it. They are a pious, a gentle, and a mild people, and
could never tolerate these passions. Listen to the language of
the Redeemer—‘ But I say unto you, love your enemies ; bless
them that curse you; do good to them that hate you ; pray for
them that despitefully use you and persecute you.’—This is the
command of God, John, and without striving to cultivate such
feelings, no man can see him.”
The Indian heard the divine with attention ; the unusual fire
of his eye gradually softened, and his muscles relaxed into their
ordinary composure ; but, slightly shaking his head, he motioned
with dignity for Mr. Grant to resume his walk, and followed
himself in silence.” The agitation of the divine caused him to
move with unusual rapidity along the deep path, and the Indian,
without any apparent exertion, kept an equal pace; but the
young hunter observed the female to linger in her steps, until a
trifling distance intervened between the two former and the
latter. Struck by the circumstance, and not perceiving any new
impediment to retard her footsteps, the youth made a tender of
his assistance.
“You are fatigued, Miss Grant,” he said; “the snow yields
to the foot, and you are unequal to the strides of us men. Step
on the crust, I entreat you, and take the help of my arm.
Yonder light is, I believe, the house of your father; but it
seems. yet at some distance.”
“T am quite equal to the walk,” returned a low tremulous
voice; “ but I am startled by the manner of that Indian. Oh!
his eye was horrid, as he turned to the moon, in speaking to my
father. But I 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, which firmly
sustained his weight, and by a gentle effort induced his compa-
nion to follow. Drawing her arm through his own, he lifted his
cap from his head, allowing the dark locks to flow in rich curls
over his open brow, and walked by her side with an air of
152 THE PIONEERS.
conscious pride, as if inviting an examination of his inmost
thoughts. Louisa took but a furtive glance at his person, and
moved quietly along, at a rate that was greatly quickened by
the aid of his arm.
“You are but little acquainted with this peculiar people,
Miss Grant,” he said, “or you would know that revenge is a
virtue with an Indian. They are taught from infancy upwards,
_to believe it a duty never to allow an injury to pass unrevenged ;
and nothing but the stronger claims of hospitality can guard
one against their resentments, where they have power.”
“ Surely, sir,” said Miss Grant, involuntarily withdrawing her
arm from his, “ you have not been educated with such unholy
sentiments.”
“Tt might be a sufficient answer to your excellent father, to
say, that I was educated in the church,” he returned ; “but to
you I will add, that I have been taught deep and practical
lessons of forgiveness. I believe that, on this subject, I have
but little cause to reproach myself; it shall be my endeavor that
there yet be less.”
While speaking, he stopped, and stood with his arm again
proffered to her assistance. As he ended, she quietly accepted
his offer, and they resumed their walk.
Mr. Grant. and Mohegan had reached the door of the former’s
residence, and stood waiting near its threshold for the arrival
of their young companions. The former was earnestly occupied
in endeavoring to correct, ky his precepts, the evil propensities
that he had discovered in the Indian during their conversation ;
to which the latter listened in profound, but respectful attention.
On the arrival of the young hunter and the lady, they entered
the building. The house stood at some distance from the village,
in the centre of a field, surrounded by stumps that were peering
above the snow, bearing caps of pure white, nearly two feet in
thickness. Not a tree nor a shrub was nigh it; but the house
externally, exhibited that cheerless, unfinished aspect which is
so common to the hastily erected dwellings of a new country,
THE PIONEERS. 153
The uninviting character of its outside was, however, happily
relieved by the exquisite neatness and comfortable warmth
within.
They entered an apartment that was fitted as a parlor, though
the large fire-place, with its culinary arrangements, betrayed the
domestic uses to which it was occasionally applied. The bright
blaze from the hearth rendered the light that proceeded from
the candle Louisa produced, unnecessary ; for the scanty furni-
ture of the room was easily seen and examined by the former.
The floor was covered in the centre by a carpet made of rags, |
a species of manufacture that was then, and yet continues to be,
much in use in the interior; while its edges, that were exposed
to view, were of .unspotted cleanliness. There was a trifling air
of better life in a tea-table and work-stand, as well as in an old-
fashioned mahogany 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
needle-work and drawing, the former executed with great neat-
uess, 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 discover to the young hunter the domestic state
of the divine. He there read, that he was a widower; and that
the innocent and timid maiden, who had been his companion,
was the only survivor of six children. The knowledge of ths
dependence which each of these meek Christians had on tho
other, for happiness, threw an additional charm around the
gentle, but kind attentions, which the daughter paid to the
father. ;
These observations occurred while the party were seating
themselves before the cheerful fire, during which time there was
a suspension of discourse. But when each was comfortably
154 THE PIONEERS.
arranged, and Louisa, after laying aside a thin coat of faded
silk, and a gipsy hat, that was more becoming to her modest,
-ingenuous countenance than appropriate to the season, had
taken a chair between her father and the youth, the former
resumed the conversation.
“T trust, my young friend,” he said, “ that the education you
have received has eradicated most of those revengeful principles
which you may have inherited by descent ; for I understand
from the expressions of John, that you have some of the blood
of the Delaware tribe. Do not mistake me, I beg, for it is not
color, nor lineage, that constitutes merit ; and I know not that
he who claims affinity to the proper owners of this soil has not
the best right to tread these hills with the hghtest conscience.”
Mohegan turned solemnly to the speaker, and, with the pecu-
liarly significant gestures of an Indian, he spoke :— |
“Father, you are not yet past the summer of life; your
limbs are young. Go to the highest hill, and look around you.
All that you see from the rising to the setting sun, from the
head waters of the great spring, to where the ‘ crooked river’*
is hid by the hills, is his. He has Delaware blood, and his
right is strong. But the brother of Miquon 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 Indian. “ The wolf of the forest
is not more rapacious for his prey, than that man is greedy of
gold; and yet his glidings into wealth are subtle as the move:
ments of a serpent.”
“ Forbear, forbear, my son, forbear,” interrupted Mr. Grant,
“These angry passions must be subdued. The accidental
injury you have received from Judge Temple has heightened
* The Susquehannah means crooked river; “hannah,” or hannock, meant
river,” in many of the native dialects. Thus we find Rappahannock, as far south
as Virginia.
THE PIONEERS. 155
the sense of your hereditary wrongs. But remember that the
one was unintentional, and that the other is the effect of politi-
cal 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 Philistinés, who so often held the
children of Israel in bondage? or that city of Babylon, which
rioted in luxury and vice, and who styled herse!f the Queen of
Nations in the drunkenness of her pride? Remember the
prayer of our holy litany, where we implore the Divine Power
—‘that it may please thee to forgive our-enemies, persecutors,
and slanderers, and to turn their hearts.’ The sin of the wrongs
which have been done to the natives is shared by Judge Temple
oniy in common with a whole people, and your arm will
speedily be restored to its strength.”
“This arm!” repeated the youth, pacing the floor in violent
agitation. “Think you, sir, that I believe the man a murderer ?
—Oh, no! he is too wily, too cowardly for such a crime. But
let him and his daughter riot in their wealth—a day of retribu-
tion will come. No, no, no,” he continued, as he trod the floor
more calmly—“ it is for Mohegan to suspect him of an intent
to injure me: but the trifle is not worth a second thought.”
He seated himself, and hid his face between his hands, as
they rested on his knees.
“It is the hereditary violence of a native’s passion, my child,”
said Mr. Grant in a low tone, to his affrighted daughter, who
was clinging in terror to his arm. “He is mixed with the
blood of the Indians, you have heard; and neither the refine-
ments of education, nor the advantages of our excellent liturgy,
have been able entirely to eradicate the evil. But care and
time will do much for him yet.”
Although the divine spoke in a low tone, yet what he uttered
was heard by the youth, who raised his head, with a smile of
indefinite expression, and spoke more calmly.
“Be not alarmed, Miss Grant, at either the wildness of my |
manner or that of my dress. I have been carried away by
passions that I should struggle to repress. I must attribute it
-
156 “THE PIONEERS.
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! Iam proud of my descent from a Dela-
ware chief, who was a warrior that ennobled human nature.
Old Mohegan was his friend, and will vouch for his virtues.”
Mr. Grant here took up the discourse, and, finding the young
man more calm, and the aged chief attentive, he entered into a
full and theological discussion of the duty of forgiveness. The
conversation lasted for more than an hour, when the visitors
arose, and, after exchanging good wishes with their entertainers,
they departed. At the door they separated, Mohegan taking
the direct route to the village, while the youth moved towards
the lake. The divine stood.at the entrance of his dwelling,
regarding the figure of the aged chief as it glided, at an asto-
nishing gait for his years, along the deep path; his black,
straight hair just visible over the bundle formed by his blanket,
which was sometimes blended with the snow, under the silvery
light of the moon. From the rear of the house was a window
that overlooked the lake; and here Louisa was found by her
father, when he entered, gazing intently on some object in the
direction of the eastern mountain. He approached the spot,
and saw the figure of the young hunter, at the distance of half
-a mile, walking with prodigious steps across the wide fields of
frozen snow that covered the ice, towards the point where he —
knew the hut inhabited by the Leather-stocking was situated
on the margin of the lake, under a rock that was crowned by
pines and hemlocks. At the next instant, the wildly-looking
form entered the shadow cast from the overhanging trees, and
was lost to view.
“Tt is marvellous how long the propensities of the savage
continue in that remarkable race,” said the good divine; “ but
if he persevere as he has commenced, his triumph shall yet be
complete. Put me in mind, Louisa, to lend him the homily
‘against peril of idolatry, at his next visit.”
“Surely, father, you do not think him in danger of relapsing
into the worship of his ancestors |”
THE PIONEERS, 157
““No, my child,” returned the clergyman, laying his hand
affectionately on her flaxen locks, and smiling; “his white blood:
would prevent it; but-there is such a thing as the idolatry of
our passions.”
158 THE PIONERRS.
- CHAPTER XIil.
And I’ll drink out of the quart pot,—
Here’s a health to the barley mow.
Drinking Song.
On one of the corners, where the two principal streets of
Templeton intersected each other, stood, as we have already
mentioned, the inn called the “ Bold Dragoon.” In the origi-
nal plan, it was ordained that the village should stretch along
the little stream that rushed down the valley; and the street
which led from the lake to the academy, was intended to be its
western boundary. But convenience frequently frustrates the
best regulated plans. The house of Mr., or as, in consequence
of commanding the militia of that vicinity, he was called,
Captain Hollister, had, at an early day, been erected directly
facing the main street, and ostensibly interposed a barrier to
its further progress. Horsemen, and subsequently teamsters,
however, availed themselves of an opening, at the end of the,
building, to shorten their passage westward, until, in time, the
regular highway was laid out along this course, and houses
were gradually built on either side, so as effectually to prevent
any subsequent correction of the evil. .
Two material consequences followed this change in, the
regular plans of Marmaduke. ‘The main street, after running
about half its length, was suddenly reduced to precisely that
difference in its width; and 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 compe-
ie) >
titors, that no circumstances could conquer. An effort was,
THE PIONEERS. 159
however, made to do so; and at the corner diagonally opposite,
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, although glass was to be seen in the lower apartments,
and the light of the powerful fires within denoted that it was
already inhabited. The exterior was painted white on the front,
and on the end which was exposed to the street ; but in the rear,
and on the side which was intended to join the neighboring house,
it was coarsely smeared with Spanish brown. Before the door
stood two lofty posts, connected at the top by a beam, from
which was suspended an enormous sign, ornamented around its
edges with certain curious carvings in pine boards, and on its
faces loaded with masonic emblems. Over these mysterious
figures was written, in large letters, “The Templeton Coffee-
House, and Travellers’ Hotel,’ and beneath them, “By
Habakkuk Foote and Joshua Knapp.” ‘This was a fearful rival
to the “Bold Dragoon,” as our readers will the more readily
perceive, when we add that the same sonorous names were to
be seen over 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 executed well, or that the “ Bold
Dragoon” had established a reputation which could not be
easily shaken, not only Judge Temple and his friends, but most
of the villagers also, who were not in debt to the powerful firm
we have named, frequented the inn of Captain Hollister, on al)
occasions where such a house was necessary.
On the present evening the limping veteran and his consort
were hardly housed after their return from the academy, when
the sounds of stamping feet at their threshold announced the
approach of visitors, who were probably assembling with a view
to compare opinions on the subject of the ceremonies they
had witnessed.
160 THE PIONEERS.
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
profusely garnished with bottles and glasses. In the entrance to
this sanctuary, Mrs. Hollister was seated, with great gravity in her
air, while her husband occupied himself with stirrmg the fires,
moving the logs with a large stake burnt to a point at one end.
“There, Sargeant, dear,” said the landlady, after she thought
the veteran had got the logs arranged in the most judicious
manner, “ give over poking, for it’s no good ye’ll be doing, now
that they burn so convaniently. There’s the glasses on the
table there, and the mug that the Doctor was taking his cider
and ginger in, before the fire here—just put them in the bar,
will ye? for we'll be having the Jooge, and the Major, and Mr.
Jones down the night, without reckoning Benjamin Poomp, and
the lawyers: so 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 turn her out of the
house, and she may live wid the jontlemen that kape the
‘Coffee-house,’ good luck to ’em. Och! Sargeant, sure it’s a
great privilege to go to a mateing where a body can sit asy,
widout joomping up and down so often, as this Mr. Grant is
doing that same.”
“It’s a privilege at all times, Mrs. Hollister, whether we stand
or be seated ; or, as good Mr. Whitefield used to do after he had
made a wearisome day’s march, get on our knees and pray, like
Moses of old, with a flanker to the right and left, to lift his hands
to heaven,” returned her husband, who composedly performed
what she had directed to be done. “ It was a very pretty fight,
Betty, that the Israelites had on that day with the Amalekites.
[t seems that they fout on a plain, for Moses is mentioned as
having gone on to the heights to overlook the battle, and
THE PIONEERS. 161
wrestle in prayer; and if I should judge, with my little larning,
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
disciplyn’d troops. Indeed, it says as much as that they were
chosen men; quite likely volunteers ; for raw dragoons seldom
strike with the edge of their swords, particularly if the weapon
be any way crooked.”
“ Pshaw! why do ye bother yourself wid taxts, man, about
so small a matter,” interrupted the landlady ; “sure, it was the
Lord who was with ’em; for he always sided wid the Jews,
before they fell away ; and it’s but little matter what kind of
men Joshua commanded, so that he was doing the night
bidding. Aven them cursed millaishy, the Lord forgive me
for swearing, that was the death of him, wid their cowardice,
would have carried the day in old times. There’s no rason to
be thinking that the soldiers were used to the drill.”
“T must say, Mrs. Hollister, that I have not. often seen raw
troops fight better than the left flank of the militia, at the time
you mention. They rallied handsomely, and that without beat
of drum, which is no easy thing to do under fire, and were
very steady till he fell. But the Scriptures contain no
unnecessary words; and I will maintain that horse, who know
how to strike with the edge of the sword, must be well
disciplyn’d. Many a good sarmon has been preached about
smaller matters than that one word! If the text was not
meant to be particular, why wasn’t it written with the sword,
and not with the edge? Now, a back-handed stroke, on the
edge, takes long practice. Goodness! what an argument
would Mr. Whitefield make of that word edge! As to the
Captain, if he had only called up the guard of dragoons when
he rallied the foot, they would have shown the inimy what the
edge of a sword was; for, although there was no commissioned
officer with them, yet I think I may say,” the veteran continued,
stiffening his cravat about the throat, and raising himself up,
16? THE PIONEERS.
with the air of a drill-sergeant, “they were led by a man who
know’d how to bring them on, in spite of the ravine.”
“Ts it lade on ye would,” cried the landlady, “when ye
know yourself, Mr. Hollister, that the baste he rode was but
little able to joomp from one rock to another, and the animal
was as spry as a squirrel? Och! but it’s useless to talk, for
‘ he’s gone this many a year. I would that he had lived to see
the true light; but there’s mercy for a brave sowl, that died in
the saddle, fighting for the liberty. It is a poor tombstone
they have given him, 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 conversation would
have led the worthy couple, had not the men, who were
stamping the snow off their feet, on the little platform before
the door, suddenly ceased their occupation, and entered the
bar-room.
For ten or fifteen minutes, the different individuals, who
intended either to bestow or receive edification, before the fires
of the “ Bold Dragoon,” on that evening, were collecting, until
the benches were nearly filled with men of different occupa-
tions. Dr. Todd and a slovenly-looking, shabby-genteel young
man, who took tobacco profusely, wore a coat of imported
cloth, cut with something like a fashionable air, frequently
exhibited a large French silver watch, with a chain of woven
hair and a silver key, and who, altogether, seemed as much
above the artisans around him as he was himself inferior to
the real gentleman, 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 arose, or the liquor was passed
from one to the other. No man was seen to drink by himself,
nor in any instance was more than one vessel considered
necessary for the same beverage; but the glass, or the mug,
THE PIONEERS. 163
was passed from hand to hand, until a chasm in the line, or a
regard to the rights of ownership, would regularly restore the
dregs of the potation to him who defrayed the cost.
Toasts were uniformly drunk; and, occasionally, some one,
who conceived himself peculiarly endowed by nature to shine
in the way of wit, would attempt some such sentiment as
“hoping that he” who treated, “might make a better man
than his father ;” or, “live till all his*friends wished him dead ;”
while the more humble pot-companion contented himself by
saying, with a most imposing gravity in his air, “come, here’s
luck,” or by expressing some other equally comprehensive
desire. In every instance, the veteran landlord was requested
_ to imitate the custom of the cupbearers to kings, and taste the
liquor he presented, by the invitation of “ after you is manners,”
with which request he ordinarily complied, by wetting his lips,
first expressing the wish of “ here’s hoping,” leaving it to the
imagination of the hearers to fill the vacuum by whatever good
each thought most desirable. During these movements, the
landlady was busily oceupied with mixing the various compounds
required by her customers, with her own hands, and occasionally
exchanging greetings and inquiries concerning the conditions
of their respective families, with such of the villagers as
approached the bar.
At length the common thirst being in some measure
assuaged, conversation of a more general nature became the
order of the hour. The physician, and his companion, who
was one of the two lawyers of the village, being considered the
best qualified to maintain a public discourse with credit, were
the principal speakers, though a remark was hazarded, now and
then, by Mr. Doolittle, who was thought to be their inferior
only in the enviable point of education. A general silence
was produced on all but the two speakers, by the following
observation from the practitioner of the law :—
“So, Dr. Todd, I understand that you have been performing
an important operation, this evening, by cutting a charge
of buckshot from the shoulder of the son of Leather-stocking ?”
164 THE PIONEERS.
“ Yes, sir,” returned the other, elevating his little head with
p2) alr of importance. “T 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
Leatker-stocking: it is news to me to hear that Natty had a
wife.”
“It is by no means a necessary consequence,” returned the
other, winking, with a shrewd look around the bar-room;
“ there is such a thing, I suppose you know, in law, as a ‘ filius
nullius.’”
“Spake it out, man,” exclaimed the landlady; “spake it out
in king’s English; what for should ye be talking Indian in a
room full of Christian folks, though it is about a poor hunter,
who is but a little better in his ways than the wild savages
themselves? Och! it’s to be hoped that the missionaries will,
in his own time, make a convarsion of the poor divils; and
then it will matter little of what color is the skin, or wedder
there be wool or hair on the head.”
“Oh! it is Latin, not Indian, Miss Hollister,” returned the
lawyer, repeating his winks and shrewd looks; “and Dr. Todd
understands Latin, or how would he read the labels on his
“gallipots and drawers? No, no, Miss Hollister, the Doctor
understands me; don’t you, Doctor ?”
“Ffem,—why I guess I am not far out of the way,” returned
Elnathar, endeavoring to imitate the expression of the other’s
countenance, by looking jocular. “ Latin is a queer language,
gentlemen ; now I rather guess there is no one in the room
except Squire Lippet, who can believe that ‘ Far. Ay.’ means
oatmeal, in English.”
Tue lawyer in his turn was a good deal embarrassed by this
display of learning; for, although he actually had taken his
first degree at one of the eastern universities, he was somewhat
puzzled with the terms used by his companion. It was.
dangerous, however, to appear to be outdone in Jearning in a
THE PIONEERS. 165
public bar-room, and before so many of his clients; he therefore
put the best face on the matter, and laughed knowingly, as if
there were a good joke concealed under it, that was understood
only by the physician and himself. All this was attentively
abserved by the listeners, who exchanged looks of approbation ;
and the expressions of “tonguey man,” and “I guess Squire
Lippet knows, if anybody doos,” were heard in different parts
of the room, as vouchers for the admiration of his auditors.
Thus encouraged, the lawyer rose from his chair, and turning
his back to the fire, and facing the company, he continued: —
“The son of Natty, or the son of nobody, I hope the young
man is not going to let the matter drop. This is a country of
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, Iam of opinion that the gentleman will soon be
well, as I said before; the wound isn’t in a vital part; and as
the ball was extracted so soon, and the shoulder was what |
eall well attended to, I do not think there is as much danger as
there might have been.”
“Tsay, Squire Doolittle,” continued the attorney, raising his
voice, “ you are a magistrate, and know what is law, and what
is not law. I ask you, sir, if shooting a man is a thing that is
to be settled so very easily? Suppose, sir, that the young man
had a wife and family; and suppose that he was a mechanic
like yourself, sir; and suppose that his family depended on
him for bread; and suppose that the ball, instead of merely
going through the flesh, had broken the shoulder-blade, and
erippled 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 was pldesscedl to the
company generally, Hiram did not, at first, consider himself
called on for a reply ; but finding the eyes of the listeners bent
on him in expectation, he remembered his character for judicial
166 THE PIONEERS.
¢
discrimination, and spoke, observing a due degree of deliberation
and dignity.
“Why, if a man should shoot another,” he said, “and it 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.”
“Tt would so, sir,” returned the attorney. “The law,
gentlemen, is no respecter of persons in a free country. It is
one of the great blessings that has been handed down to us
from our ancestors, that all men are equal in the eye of the law
as they are by nater. Though some may get property, no one
knows how, yet they are not privileged to transgress the laws
any more than the poorest citizen in the state. ‘This is my
notion, gentlemen; and I think that 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 appeared a little
uneasy at the turn the conversation was taking, “I have the
promise of Judge Temple before men—not but what I would
take his word as soon as his note of hand—but it was before
men. Let me see—there was Mounshier Ler Quow, and Squire
Jones, and Major Hartmann, and Miss Pettibone, and one or two
of the blacks by, when he said that his pocket would amply
reward me for what I did.”
“Was the promise made before or after the service was per-
formed?” asked the attorney.
“It might have been both,” returned the discreet physician ;
“though 1’m certain he said so before I undertook the dressing.”
“ But it seems that he said his pocket should reward you,
Doctor,” observed Hiram. “Now I don’t know that the law
vill hold a man to such a promise; he might give you his
pocket with sixpence in’t, and tell you to take your pay out on’t.”
“That would. not be a reward in the eye of the law,” inter-
rupted the attorney—“ not what is called a ‘quid pro quo; nor
is the pocket to be considered as an agent, but as part of a
man’s own person, that is, in this particular. I am of opinion
THE PIONEERS. 167
that an action would lie on that promise, and I will undertake
to hear him out, free of costs, if he don’t recover.”
To this proposition the physician made no reply ; but he was
observed to cast his eyes around him, as if to enumerate the
witnesses, in order to substantiate this promise also, at a future
day, should it prove necessary. A subject so momentous as
that of suing Judge Temple was not very palatable to the
present company in so public a place; and a short silence
ensued, that was only interrupted by the opening of the door,
and the entrance of Natty himself.
The old hunter carried in his hand his never failing compa-
nion, the rifle; and although all of the company were uncovered
excepting the lawyer, who wore his hat on one side, with a cer-
tain dam’me air, Natty moved to the front of one of the fires,
_ without in the least altering any part of his dress or appearance.
Several questions were addressed to him, on the subject of the
game he had killed, which he answered readily, and with some
little interest; and the landlord, between whom and Natty
there existed much cordiality, on account of their both having
been soldiers in youth, offered him a glass of a liquid, which,
if we might judge from its reception, was no unwelcome guest.
When the forester had got his potation also, he quietly took
his seat on the end of one of the logs that lay nigh the fires,
and the slight interruption produced by his entrance seemed to
be forgotten.
“The testimony of the blacks could not be taken, sir,” conti-
nued the lawyer, “ for they are all the property of Mr. Jones, who
owns their time. But there is a way by which Judge Temple,
or any other man, might be made to pay for shooting another,
and for the cure in the bargain——There is a way, I say, and
that without going into the ‘court of errors, too.”
“ And a mighty big error ye would make of it, Mister Todd,”
eried the landlady, “should ye be putting the matter into the
law at all, with Joodge Temple, who has a purse as long as
one of them pines on the hill, and who is an asy man to dale
wid, if yees but mind the humor of him. He’s a good man is
168 THE PIONEERS,
Joodge Temple, and a kind one, and one who will be no the likelier .
to do the pratty thing, becase ye would wish to tarrify him wid
the law. I know of but one objaction to the same, which is an
over carelessness about his sowl. It’s neither a Methodie, nor
a Papish, nor Prasbetyrian, that he is, but just nothing at all;
and it’s hard to think that he, ‘who will not fight the good fight,
under the banners of a rig’lar church, in this world, will be
mustered among the chosen in heaven,’ as my husband, the
captain there, as ye call him, says—though there is but one
captain that I know, who desaarves the name. I hopes Lather-
stocking, ye’ll no be foolish, and putting the boy up to try the
law in the matter; for ’twill be an evil day to ye both, when
ye first turn the skin of so paceable an animal as a sheep into a
bone of contention. The lad is wilcome to his drink for nothing,
until his shoulther will bear the rifle ag’in.”
“Well, that’s gin’rous,” was heard from several mouths at
once, for this was a company in which a liberal offer was not
thrown away; while the hunter, instead of expressing any of
that indignation which he might be supposed to feel, at hearing
the hurt of his young companion alluded to, opened his mouth,
with the silent laugh for which he wasso remarkable; and after
he had indulged his humor, made this reply :—
“T know’d the Judge would do nothing with his smooth-bore
when he got out of his sleigh. I never saw but one smooth-
bore that would carry at all, and that was a French-ducking
piece, upon the big lakes: it had a barrel half as long ag’in as
my rifle, and would throw fine shot into a goose, at 100 yards ;
but it made dreadful work with the game, and you wanted a
boat to carry it about in. When I went with Sir William 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 keep a steady aim. The Captain knows, for he
says he was a soldier in Shirley’s; and though they were no-
thing but baggonet-men, he must know how we cut up the French
and Jroquois in the skrimmages in that war. Chingachgook,
which means ‘ Big Sarpent’ in English, old John Mohegan, who
THE PIONEERS. 169
lives up at the hut with me, was a great warrior then, and was — |
out with us; he can tell all about it, too; though he was
overhand for the tomahawk, never firing more than once or
twice, before he was running in for the scalps. Ah! times
is dreadfully altered since then. Why, Doctor, there was
nothing but a footpath, or at the most a track for pack-horses,
along the Mohawk, from the Jarman Flats up to the forts. Now,
they say, they talk of running one of them wide roads with
gates on it along the river; first making a road, and then
fencing it up! I hunted one season back of the Kaatskills,
nigh-hand to the settlements, and the dogs often lost the scent,
when they came to them highways, there was so much travel on
them; though I can’t say that the brutes was of a very good
breed. Old Hector will wind a deer in the fall of the year,
across the broadest place in the Otsego, and that is a mile and
a half, for I paced it myself on the ice, when the tract was first
surveyed, under the Indian grant.”
“Tt sames to me, Natty, but a sorry compliment, to call your
comrad after the evil one,” said the landlady; “and it’s no much
like a snake that old John is looking now. _ Nimrod would bea
more besameing name for the lad, and a more Christian, too,
seeing that it comesfrom the Bible. The sargeant read me
the chapter about him, the night before my christening, and a
mighty asement it was, to listen to anything from the book.”
“Old John and Chingachgook were very different men to
look on,” returned the hunter, shaking his head at his melan-
choly: recollections.—“ In ‘the ‘ fifty-eighth war’ he was in the
middle of manhood, and taller than now by three inches. If
you had seen him, as I did, the morning we beat Dieskau, from
behind our log walls, you would have called him as comely a
red-skin as ye ever set eyeson. He was naked all to his breech-
cloth and leggins ; 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 colored his sides so that
8
.
170 THE PIONEERS.
they looked like an atomy, ribs and all; for Chingachgook had
a great taste in such things ;. so that, what with his bold, fiery
countenance, his knife, and his tomahawk, I have never seen a
fiercer warrior on the ground. He played his part, too, like a
man ; for I saw him next day, with thirteen scalps on his pole.
And I will say this for the ‘Big Snake,’ that he always dealt
fair, and never scalped any that he didn’t kill with his own
hands.”
“Well, well,” cried the landlady; “ fighting is fighting, 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,
sargeant, ye niver was helping in sich evil worrek.”
“Tt was my duty to keep my ranks, and to stand or fall by
the baggonet or lead,” returned the veteran. “I was then in
the fort, and seldom leaving my place, saw but little of the
savages, who kept on the flanks or in front, skrimmaging. I
remember, howsomever, to have heard mention made of the
‘Great Snake,’ as he was called, for he was a chief of renown;
but little did I ever expect to see him enlisted in the cause of
Christianity, and civilized like old John.”
“Oh! he was Christianized by the Moravians, who were
always over intimate with the Delawares,” said Leather- '
stocking. “It’s my opinion that, had they been left to them-
selves, 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 3
He was interrupted by more stamping at the door, and
preséntly the party from the Mansion-house entered, followed
by the Indian himself.
THE PIONEERS, 171
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 Sona,
Some little commotion was produced by the appearance of
the new guests, during which the lawyer slunk from the room. |
Most of the men approached Marmaduke, and shook his offered
hand, hoping “ that the Judge was well ;” while Major Hartmann,
having laid aside his hat and wig, and substituted for the latter
a warm, peaked woollen 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 towards the bar, he said—
“Petty, pring in ter toddy.”
In the meantime the Judge had exchanged his salutations
with most of the company, and taken a place by the side of the
Major, and Richard had bustled himself into the most com-
fortable seat in the room. Mr. Le Quoi was the last seated, nor
did he venture to place his chair finally, until by frequent
removals, he had ascertained that he could not possibly intercept
a ray of heat from any individual present. Mohegan found a
place on an end of one of the benches, and somewhat approxi-
mated to the bar. When these movements had subsided, the
Judge remarked pleasantly —
“ Well, Betty, I find you retain your popularity through all
172 THE PIONEERS.
weathers, against all rivals, and among all religions. How
liked you the sermon 2”
“Ts it the sarmon ?” exclaimed the landlady. “Ican’t say but
it was rasonable; but the prayers is mighty unasy. It’s no
small a matter for a body in their fifty-nint’ year, to be moving
so much in church. Mr. Grant sames a godly man, any way,
and his garrel is a hoomble one, and a devout.—Here, John, is
a mug of cider, laced with whiskey. An Indian will drink cider,
though he niver be athirst.”
“T must say,” observed Hiram, with due deliberation, “that
it was a tonguey thing; and I rather guess that it gave consi-
derable satisfaction. There was one part, though, which might
have been left out, or something else put in; but then I s’pose
that, as it was a written discourse, itis not so easily altered as
where a minister preaches without notes.”
“ Ay! there’s the rub, Jooge,” cried the landlady. “ How
can aman 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
sensibly.—So, Jotham, I am told you have sold your better- |
ments to a new settler, and have moved into the village, and
opened a school. Was it cash or dicker ?”
The man who was thus addressed occupied a seat immediately
behind Marmaduke ; and one who was ignorant of the extent of
the Judge’s observation, might have thought he would have
escaped notice. He was of a thin, shapeless figure, with a
discontented expression of countenance, and with semething
extremely shiftless in his whole air. Thus spoken to, after turn-
ing and twisting a little, by way of preparation, he made a
reply.
“ Why, part cash, and part dicker. Isold out toa 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
THE PIONEERS, 178
first cost, on the woodland ; and we agreed to leave the buildins
to men. So I tuck Asa Montagu, and he tuck Absalom
Bement, and they two tuck old Squire Napthali Green. And
so they had a meetin, and made out a vardict of eighty dollars for
the buildins. There was twelve acres of clearin, at ten dollars,
and eighty-eight at one, and the whull came to two hundred and
eighty-six dollars and a half, after paying the men.”
“Hum,” said Marmaduke: “what did you give for the
place 2”
“Why, besides what’s comin’ to the Judge, I gi’n my ©
brother Tim a hundred dollars for his bargain; but then there’s
a new house on’t, that cost me sixty more, and I paid Moses a
hundred dollars, for choppin’, and loggin’, and sowin’; so that
the whull stood me in about two hundred and sixty dollars.
But then I had a great crop off on’t, and as I got twenty-six
dollars and a half more than it cost, I conclude I made a pretty
good trade on’t.”
“Yes, but you forgot that the crop was yours without the
trade, and you have turned yourself out of doors for twenty-six
dollars.”
“Oh! the Judge is clean out,” said the man, with a look of
sagacious calculation ; “he turned out a span of horses, that is
wuth a hundred and fifty dollars of any man’s money, with a
bran new wagon ; fifty dollars in cash; and a good note for
eighty more; and a sidesaddle that was valued at seven and a
half—so there was jist twelve shillings betwixt us. I wanted
him to turn out a set of harness, and take the cow and the sap
troughs. He wouldn’t—but I saw through it; he thought I
should have to buy the tacklin’ afore I could use the wagon and
horses ; but I 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 money.”
174 THE PIONEERS.
“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 worse in the spring, I’ve some notion of going into trade, or
maybe I may move off to the Genesee; they say they are
carryin’ on a great stroke of business that-a-way. If the wust
comes to the wust, I can but work at my trade, for 1 was
brought up in a shoe manufactory.”
It would seem that Marmaduke did not think his society of
sufficient value to attempt inducing him to remain where he
was; for he addressed no further discourse to the man, but
turned his attention to other subjects. After a short pause,
Hiram ventured a question :—
“What news does the Judge bring us from the Legislature ?
it’s not likely that Congress has done much this session: or
maybe the French hayen’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
bloodthirsty as bull-dogs.”
“There was one Roshambow wid us, down at Yorrektown,” »
eried 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
fem.”
“Ah! mon pauvre Roi!” murmured Monsieur Le Quoi.
“The Legislature have been passing laws,” continued Mar-
maduke, “that the country much required. Among others,
there is an act prohibiting the drawing of seines, at any other
than proper seasons, in certain of our streams and small lakes ;
and another, to prohibit the killing of deer in the teeming
months. These are laws that were loudly called for, by
judicious men; no: do I despair of getting an act to make the
unlawful felling of timber a criminal offence.”
THE PIONEERS. 175
~ The hunter listened to this detail with breathless attention,
and when the Judge had ended, he laughed in open derision.
“You may make your laws, Judge,” he cried, “but who
will you find to watch the mountains through the long summer
days, or the lakes at night? Game is game, and he who finds |
may kill; that has been the law in these mountains for forty
years, to my sartain knowledge; and I think one old law is
worth two new ones. None but a green-one would wish to kill
a doe with a fa’n by its side, unless his moccasins were getting
old, or his leggins ragged, for the flesh is lean and coarse. But
a rifle rings among the rocks along the lake shore, sometimes,
as if fifty pieces were fired at once :—it would be hard to tell
where the man stood who pulled the trigger.”
“ Armed with the dignity of the law, Mr. Bumppo,” returned
the Judge, gravely, “a vigilant magistrate can prevent much of
the evil that has hitherto prevailed, and which is already render-
ing the game scarce. I hope to live to see the day when a man’s
rights in his game shall be as much respected as his title to his
farm.”
“ Your titles and your farms are all new together,” cried
Natty ; “but laws should be equal, and not more for one than
another. I shot a deer, last Wednesday was a 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. NowI want to know
who is to pay me for that deer; anda 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 anything that hadn’t wings
three rimes running, in my born days.—No, no, Judge, it’s the
farmers that makes the game scarce, and not the hunters.”
“Ter teer is not so plenty as in ter old war, Pumppo,” said
the Major, who had been an attentive listener, amidst clouds of
smoke; “put ter lant is not mate as for ter teer to live on, put
for Christians.”
“Why, Major, I believe you’re a friend to justice and the
right, though you go so often to the grand house; but it’s a
176 THE PIONEERS.
hard case to a man to have his honest calling for a livelihood
stopped by laws, and that too when, if right was done, he
mought hunt or fish on any day in the week, or on the best
flat in the Patent, if he was so minded.”
“T unstertant you, Letter-stockint,” returned the Major, fixmg
his black eyes, with a look of peculiar meaning, on the hunter ;
“put you didn’t use to be so prutent, as to look ahet mit so
much care.”
“Maybe there wasn’t so much occasion,” said the hunter, a
little sulkily ; when he sank into a silence from which he was
not roused for some time.
“The Judge was saying so’thin about the French,” Hiram
observed, when the pause in the conversation had continued a
decent time.
“Yes, sir,” returned Marmaduke, “the Jacobins of France seem
rushing from one act of licentiousness to another. They con-
tinue those murders which are dignified by the name of
executions. You have heard that they HON added the death
of their Queen to the long list of their crimes.”
“Les Monstres !” again murmured Monsieur Le Quoi, fra
himself suddenly in his chair, with a convulsive start.
“The province of La Vendée is laid waste by the troops of
the republic, and hundreds of its inhabitants, who are royalists
in their sentiments, are shot at a time. La Vendée is a district
in the south-west of France that continues yet much attached to
the family of the Bourbons; doubtless Monsieur Le Quoi is
acquainted with it, and can daiuthd it more faithfully.”
“Non, non, non, mon cher ami,” returned the Frenchman, ip
a suppressed voice, but speaking rapidly, and gesticulating with
his right hand, as if for mercy, while with his left he concealed
his eyes.
“There have been many battles fought lately,” continued
Marmaduke, “and the infuriated republicans are too often victo-
rious. I cannot say, however, that I am sorry they have
captured Toulon from the English, for it is a place to which they
have a just right.”
==
>
THE PIONEERS. WPF
“ Ah—ha!” exclaimed Monsieur Le Quoi, springing sn his
feet, and flourishing both arms with great animation; “ ces
Anglais !”
The Frenchman continued to move about the room with
great alacrity for a few minutes, repeating his exclamations to
himself; when, overcome by the 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 honor from the moon. His
departure excited but little surprise, for the villagers were used
to his manner; but Major Hartmann laughed outright, for the
first time during his visit, as he lifted the mug, and observed—
“Ter Frenchman is mat—put he is goot as for notting 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 Yorktown ; nor
do I think, although I am an ignorant man about the great
movements of the army, that his Excellency would have been
able to march against Cornwallis, without their reinforcements.”
“Ye spake the 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 rigi-
ment of the jontlemen marched by, and so I dealt them out to
their liking. Was it pay I got? sure did I, and in good solid
crowns : the divil a bit of continental could they muster among
them all, for love nor money. Och! the Lord forgive me for
swearing and spakeing of such vanities: but this I will say for
the French, that they paid in good silver; and one glass would
go a great way wid ’em, for they gin’rally handed it back wid a
drop in the cup; and that’s a brisk trade, Joodge, where the
pay is good, and the men not over partic’lar.”
“A thriving trade, Mrs. Hollister,” said Marmaduke. “ But
what has become of Richard? he jumped up as soon as seated,
and has been absent so long that I am fearful he has frozen.”
“No fear of that, cousin duke,” cried the gentleman himself;
178 THE PIONEERS.
“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 grey squirrel, that they are
better in a week. And now, Mrs. Hollister, ?’m ready for a
hissing mug of flip.”
it pie I know’d yee’d be wanting that same,” said the land-
lady ; “it’s mixt and ready to the boiling. Sargeant, dear, be
kde up the iron, will ye ?—no, the one in the far fire, it’s
black, yeewill 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 es a hand, Betty, that was formed to mix flip,”
cried Richard, when he paused for breath. “The very iron has
a flavor in it. Here, John, drink, man, drink. J and you and
Dr. Todd, have done a good thing with the shoulder of that lad
this very night. ’Duke, I made a song while you were gone—
one day when I had nothing to do; so I’ll sing you a verse or
two, though I haven't really determined on the tune yet :—
What is life but a scene of care,
Where each one must toil in his way ?
Then let us be jolly, and prove that we are
A set of good fellows, who seem very rare,
And can laugh and sing all the day.
Then let us be jolly,
And cast away folly,
For grief turns a black head to grey.
There, "duke, what do you think of that? There 1s 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 ?”
THE PIONEERS. 179
“ Good!” said Mohegan, who had been sharing deeply in the
potations of the landlady, besides paying a proper respect to the _
passing mugs of the Major and Marmaduke.
“ Pravo! pravo! Richart,” cried the Major, whose black eyes
were beginning to swim in moisture; “ 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 melanchely
shake of the head, “I have lived to see what I thought eyes
could never behold in these hills, and I have no heart left for
singing. If he, that has a right to be master and ruler here, is
forced to squinch his thirst, when a-dry, with snow-water, it ill
becomes them that have lived by his bounty to be making
merry, as if there was nothing in the world but sunshine and
summer.”
When he had spoken, Leather-stocking again dropped his
head on his knees, and concealed his hard and wrinkled features
with his hands. The change from the excessive cold without,
to the heat of the bar-room, coupled with the depth and fre-
quency of Richard’s draughts, had already levelled whatever
inequality there might have existed between him and the other
guests, on the score of spirits; and he now held out a pair of
swimming mugs of foaming flip towards the hunter, as he cried—
“Merry! ay! merry Christmas to you, old boy! Sunshine
and summer! no! you are blind, Leather-stocking, ’tis moon-
shine and wiuter ;—take these spectacles, and open your eyes—
So let us be jolly,
And cast away folly,
For grief turns a black head to grey.
“ Hear how old John turns his quavers. What damned dull
music an Indian song is, after all, Major! I wonder if they ever
sing by note.”
While Richard was singing and talking, Mohegan was uttering
dull, monotonous tones, keeping time by a gentle motion of his
head and body. He made use of but few words, and such as
180 THE PIONEERS.
he did utter were fa his native language, and consequently only
understood by himself and Natty. Without heeding Richard,
he continued to sing a kind of wild, melancholy air, that rose,
at times, in sudden and quite elevated notes, and then fell again
into the low, quavering sounds that seemed to compose the
character of his music.
The attention of the company was now much divided, the
men in the rear having formed themselves into little groups,
where they were discussing various matters; among the princi-
pal of which were, the treatment of mangy hogs, and Parson
Grant’s preaching ; while Dr. Todd was endeavoring to explain
to Marmaduke the nature of the hurt received by the young
hunter. Mohegan continued to sing, while his countenance was
becoming vacant, though, coupled with his thick bushy hair, it
was assuming an expression very much like brutal - ferocity.
His notes were gradually growing louder, and soon rose to a
height that caused a general cessation in the discourse. The -
hunter now raised his head again, and addressed the old warrior,
‘warmly, in the Delaware language, which, for the benefit of our
readers, we shall render freely into English.
“Why do you sing of your battles, Chingachgook, and of the
warriors ‘you have slain, when the worst enemy of all is near
you, and keeps the Young Eagle from his rights? I have fought
in as many battles as any warrior in your tribe, but cannot
boast of my deeds at such a time as this.”
“ Hawk-eye,” said the Indian, tottering with a doubtful step
from his place, “I am the Great Snake of the Delawares; I can
track the Mingoes like an adder that is stealing on the whip-
poor-will’s eggs, and strike them like the rattlesnake, dead at a
blow. The white man made the tomahawk of Chingachgook
bright as the waters of Otsego, when the last sun is shining;
but it is red with the blood of the Maquas.”
“ And why have you slain the Mingo warriors?. Was it not
to keep these hunting grounds and lakes to your father’s
children ? and were they not given in solemn council to the
Fire-eater ? and does not the blood of a warrior run in the veins
THE PIONEERS. 181
of a young chief, who should speak aloud, where his voice is
now too low to be heard ?”
(~The appeal of the hunter seemed in some measure to recall
the confused faculties of the Indian, who turned his face towards
the listeners and gazed intently on the Judge. He shook his
head, throwing his hair back from his countenance, and exposed
eyes that were glaring with an expression of wild resentment.
But the man was not himself. His hand seemed to make a
fruitless effort to release his tomahawk, which was confined by
its handle to his belt, while his eyes gradually became vacant.
Richard at that instant thrusting a mug before him, his features
changed to the grin of idiocy, and seizing the vessel with both
hands, he sank backward on the bench and drank until satiated,
when he made an effort to lay aside the mug with the helpless-
ness of total inebriety. ¥
“Shed not blood!” exclaimed the hunter, as he watched the
countenance of the Indian in its moment of ferocity ; “but he
is drunk, and can do no harm. This is the way with all the
savages; give them liquor, and they make dogs of themselves.
Well, well—the time will come when right will be done; and
we must have patience.”,
Natty still spoke in the Delaware language, and of course was
not understood. He had hardly concluded, before Richard
cried—
“Well, old John is soon sowed up. Give him a berth,
Captain, in the barn, and I will pay for it. Iam rich to-night,
ten times richer than ’duke, with all his lands, and military .ots,
and funded debts, and bonds, and mortgages.
4
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.”
“Tie! he! he! the squire is quite moosica] to-night,’ sard
182 THE PIONEERS.
Hiram, whose visage began to give marvellous signs of
relaxation. “TI rather guess we shall make a church on’t yet.
Squire ?”
“A church, Mr. Doolittle! we will make a cathedral of it!
bishops, priests, deacons, wardens, vestry, and choir: organ,
organist, and bellows! By the Lord Harry, as Benjamin says,
we will clap a steeple on the other end of it, and make two
churehes of it. What say you, duke, will you pay? ha! my —
cousin Judge, wil’t pay !”
“Thou makest such a noise, Dickon,” returned Marmaduke,
it 1s impossible that I can hear what Dr. Todd is saying,—lI
think thou observed’st, it is probable the wound will fester, so as
td occasion danger to the limb in this cold weather ?”
“ Out of nater, sir, quite out of nater,” said Elnathan, attempt-
ing to expectorate, but succeeding only in throwing a light,
frothy substance, like a flake of snow, into the fire— quite oui
of nater, that a wound so well dressed, and with the ball in my
pocket, should fester. I s’pose, as the Judge talks of taking the
young man into his house, it will be most convenient if I make
but one charge on’t.”
“T should think one would do,” returned Marmaduke, with
that arch smile that so often beamed on his face; leaving the
beholder in doubt whether he most enjoyed the character of his
companion, or his own covert humor. The landlord had
succeeded in placing the Indian on some straw in one of his out-
buildings, where, covered with his own blanket, John continued .
for the remainder of the night.
In the meantime, Major Hartmann began to grow noisy and
jocular ; glass succeeded glass, and mug after mug was
introduced, until the carousal had run deep into the night, or
rather morning; when the veteran German expressed an
inclination to return to the Mansion-house. Most of the party
had already retired, but Marmaduke knew the habits of his
friend too well to suggest an earlier adjournment. So soon,
however, as the proposal was made, the Judge eagerly availed
himself of it, and the trio prepared to depart. Mrs. Hollister
>
THE-PIONEERS. 183
attended them to the door in person, cautioning her guests as
to the safest manner of leaving her premises.
“Lane on Mister Jones, Major,” said she, “ he’s young, and
will be a support to ye. Well, it’s a charming sight to see ye,
any way, at the Bould Dragoon; and sure it’s no harm to be
kaping a Christmas-eve wid a light heart, for it’s no telling
when we may have sorrow come upon us. So good night,
Joodge, and a merry Christmas to ye all, 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 Mansion-house: but on entering the Judge’s domains,
they encountered some slight difficulties. We shall not stop to
relate them, but will just mention that, in the morning, sundry
diverging paths were to be seen in the snow; and that once
during their progress to the door, Marmaduke, missing his
companions, was enabled to trace them, by one of these paths,
to a spot where he discovered them with nothing visible but
their heads: Richard singing in a most vivacious strain,
“Come, iet us be jolly,
And cast away folly,
For grief turns a black head to grey.”
184 THE PIONEERS.
CHAPTER XV.
“ As she lay, on that day, in the Bay of Biscay, 0!”
Previousty to the occurrence of the scene at the “Bold
Dragoon,” Elizabeth had been safely reconducted to the Mansion-
house, where she was left as its mistress, either to amuse or
employ herself during the evening, as best suited her own
inclinations. Most of the lights were extinguished; but as
Benjamin adjusted, with great care and regularity, four large
candles, in as many massive candlesticks of brass, in a row on
the sideboard, the hall possessed a peculiar air of comfort and
warmth, contrasted with the cheerless aspect of the room she
had left in the academy.
_ Remarkable had been one of the listeners to Mr. Grant, and
‘returned with her resentment, which had been not a little
excited by the language of the Judge, somewhat softened by
reflection and the worship. She recollected the youth of
Elizabeth, and thought it no difficult task, under present
appearances, to exercise that power indirectly, which hitherto |
she had enjoyed undisputed. The idea of being governed, or
of being compelled to pay the deference of servitude, was abso-
lutely intolerable; and she had already determined within
herself, some half dozen times, to make an effort, that should at
once bring to an issue the delicate point of her domestic
condition. But as often as she met the dark, proud eye of
Elizabeth, who was walking up and down the apartment, musing
on the scenes of her youth, and the change in her condition,
and perhaps the events of the day, the housekeeper experienced
an awe that she would not own to herself could be excited by
anything mortal. It, however, checked her advances, and for
THE PIONEERS. 185
some time held her tongue-tied. At length she determined to
commence the discourse, by entering on a subject that was apt
to level all human distinctions, and in which she might display
her own abilities.
“Tt was quite a wordy sarmon that Parson Grant gave us
to-night,” said Remarkable. “'The Church ministers be com-
monly smart sarmonizers; but they write down their idees,
which is a great privilege. I don’t think that by nater, they are
as tonguey speakers, for an off-hand discourse, as the standing-
order ministers.” ;
“ And what denomination do you distinguish as the standing-
order ?” inquired Miss Temple, with some surprise.
“Why, the Presbyter’ans and Congregationals, and Baptists, _
too, for-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.
“Tm sure Tye never heard ’em spoken of by any other name
than Quakers, so called,” returned Remarkable, betraying a
slight uneasiness: “TI should be the last to call them otherwise,
for I never in my life used a disparaging tarm of the Judge, or
any of his family. I’ve always set store by the Quakers, they
are so pretty-spoken, clever people; and it’s a wonderment to
me, how your father come to marry into a church family ; for
they are as contrary in religion as can be. One sits still, and
for the most part, says nothing, while the church folks practyse
all kinds of ways, so that I sometimes think it quite moosical to
see them; for I went to a church-meeting once before, down
country.”
“You have found an excellence in the church liturgy that
"has hitherto escaped me. I will thank you to inquire whether
the fire in my room burns: I feel fatigued with my journey, and
will retire.”
Remarkable felt a wonderful inclination to tell the young
ynistress of the mansion, that by opening a door she might see
for herself; but prudence got the better of resentment, and
186 THE PIONEERS.
after pausing some little time, as a salvo to her dignity, she did
as desired. The report was favorable, and the young lady,
wishing Benjamin, who was filling the stove with wood, and the
housekeeper, each a good night, withdrew.
The instant the door closed on Miss Temple, Remarkable
commenced a sort of mysterious, ambiguous discourse, that was
neither abusive nor commendatory of the qualities of the absent
personage; but which seemed to be drawing nigh, by regular
degrees, to a most dissatisfied description. The major-domo
made no reply, but continued his oécupation with great industry,
which being happily 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 system, without the aid of the enormous fire he
had been building. A small stand was drawn up near the
stove, and the bottles and the glasses necessary for convenience,
were quietly arranged. Two chairs were placed by the side of —
this comfortable situation, when Benjamin, for the first time,
appeared to observe his companion.
“Come,” he cried, “come, Mistress Remarkable, bring your-
self to an anchor in this chair. It’s a peeler without, I can tell
you, good woman; but what cares 1? blow high or blow low,
d’ye see, it’s all the same thing to Ben. The niggers are snug:
stowed below before a fire that would roast an ox whole. The
thermometer stands now at fifty-five, but if there’s any vartue in
good maple wood, I'll weather upon it, before one glass, as much
as ten points more, so that the Squire, when he comes home
from Betty Hollister’s warm room, will feel as hot as a hand
that has given the rigging a lick with bad tar. Come, mistress,
bring up in this here chair, and tell me how you like our new
heiress.”
“Why, to my notion, Mr. Penguillum——
“Pump, Pump,” interrupted Benjamin ; “ it’s Christmas-eve,
Mistress Remarkable, and so, d’ye see, you had better call me
Pump. It’s a shorter name, and as I mean to pump this here
pecanter till it sucks, why you may as well call me Pump.”
THE PIONEERS. ea 187
“Did you ever !” cried Remarkable, with a laugh that seemed
to unhinge every joint in her body. “Yowre 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 matter much, Mistress Remarkable, so long
as I keep the keys of the lockers in my pocket.”
“T can’t say,” continued the housekeeper, “ but there’s good
eatables and drinkables enough in the house for a body’s content—
a little more sugar, Benjamin, in the glass—for Squire Jones is an
excellent provider. But new lords, new laws; and I shouldn't
wonder if you and I had an unsartain time on’t in footer.”
“Life is as unsartain as the wind that blows,” said Benjamin,
with a moralizing air ;——‘‘ and nothing is more 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 cabin-boy at the wheel.”
“T know that life is disp’ut unsartain,” said Remarkable, com-
pressing her features to the: humor of her companion; “ but I
expect there will be great changes made in the house to rights ;
and that you will find a young man put over your head, as there
is one that wants to be over mine; and after having been
settled as long as you have, Benjamin, I should judge that to be
hard.”
“Promotion should go according to length of sarvice,” said
the major-domo ; “and if-so-be that they ship a hand for my
berth, or place a new steward aft, I shall throw up my commis-
sion in less time than you can put a pilot-boat in stays. Thof
Squire Dickens ”—this was a common misnomer with Benja-
min—“ 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 ifso-be he is thinking
of putting any Johnny Raw over my head, why I shall resign.
188 THE PIONEERS.
I began forrard, Mistress Prettybones, and worked my way aft,
like aman. 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 becketted; and then I did small
jobs in the cabin, such as mixing the skipper’s grog. “T'was
there I got my taste, which, you must have often seen, is
excellent. Well, here’s better acquaintance to us.”
Remarkable nodded a return to the compliment, and took a
sip of the beverage before her; for, provided it was well
sweetened, she had no objection to a small potation now and
then. After this observance of courtesy between the worthy
couple, the dialogue proceeded. :
“You have had great experiences in life, Benjamin 3 for, as
the Scripter says, ‘ They that go down to the sea in ‘ships see
the works of the Lord.”
“ Ay! for that matter, they in brigs and schooners too; and
it mought say, the works of the devil. The sea, Mistress Re-
markable, is a great advantage to a man, in the way of
knowledge, for he sees the fashions of nations, and the shape of’
a country. Now, I suppose, for myself here, who is but an
unlarned man to some that follows the seas, I suppose that,
taking the coast from Cape Ler Hogue, as low down as Cape
Finish-there, there isn’t so much as a headland, or an island,
that I don’t know either the name of it, or something more or .
jess about it. Take enough, woman, to color the water. Here’s
sugar. It’s a sweet tooth, that fellow that you hold on upon
yet, Mistress Prettybones. But, as I was saying, take the whole
coast along I know it as well as the way from here to the Bold
Dragoon; and a devil of an 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
THE PIONEERS. 189
travelling the roads in this country, up one side of a mountain,
and down the other.”
“ Do tell!” exclaimed Remarkable ; “and does the sea run
as high as mountains, Benjamin ?”
“Well, I will tell ; but first let’s taste the grog. Hem! it’s
the right kind of stuff, I must say, that you keep in this country,
but then you’re so close aboard the West Indies, you make but
asmallrun of it. By the lord Harry, woman, if Garnsey only
lay somewhere between Cape Hatteras and the Bite of Logann,
but you’d see rum cheap! As to the seas, they runs more in
uppers in the Bay of Biscay, unless it may be in a sow-wester,
when they tumble about quite handsomely ;,thof it’s notin the
narrow sea that you are to look for a swell; just go off the
Western Islands, in a westerly blow, keeping the land on your
Jarboard hand, with the ship’s head to the south’ard, and bring
to, under a close-reef’d topsail; or, mayhap, a reef’d foresail,
with a fore-topmast-staysail, and mizen-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-quarter big enough to hold the whole
British navy.”
“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 watched for a smooth time ;
clapt her heim hard a weather, let fall the foresail, and got the
tack aboard; and so, when we got her afore it, I ask you,
Mistress Prettybones, if she didn’t walk? didn’t she? I’mno
liar, good woman, when I say that I saw that ship jump from
190 THE PIONEERS.
the top of one sea to another, just like one of these squirrels,
that can fly, jumps from tree to tree.”
“ What, clean out of the water!” exclaimed Remarkable, lift-
ing her two lank arms, with their bony hands spread in asto-
nishment.
“Tt 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 I
was king of England, ’'d have her hauled up above Lon’on
bridge, and fit her up for a palace; because why? if anybody
ean afford to live comfortably, his majesty can.”
“Well! but, Benjamin,” cried the listener, who was in an
ecstasy of astonishment, at this relation+of the steward’s
dangers, “ what dzd you do ?”
“Do! why we did our duty like 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 then, and
take a look to wind’ard, till the gale blow’d its pipe out.”
“T 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 astonish-
ment that you are so affronted with the thoughts of being
forced to quit a comfortable home like this. Not that a body
THE PIONEERS. 19]
cares rouch for’t, as there’s more houses than one to live in,
Why, when the Judge agreed with me to come and live with
kim, ?'d no more notion of stopping any time than anything.
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 situation a good
one, seeing that I] was an unmarried body, and they were so
much in want of help; so I tarried.”
“ And a long time have you left your anchors down in the
same place, mistress. I think you must find that the ship rides
easy.” e
“ 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 shail 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 didn’t calculate on sitch carrins on. To my notion,
Benjamin, she’s likely to turn out a desput ugly gal.”
“Ugly!” echoed the major-domo, opening eyes, that were
beginning to close in a very suspicious sleepiness, in wide amaze-
ment. ‘“ By the lord Harry, woman, I should as soon think of
calling the Boadishey a clumsy frigate. What the devil would
you have? arn’t her eyes as bright as the morning and eve-
ning stars? and isn’t her hair as black and glistening as rigging
that has just had a lick of tar? doesn’t she move as stately as
a first rate in smooth water, on a bow-line?) Why, woman,
the figure-head of the Boadishey was a fool to her, and that, as
Tve often heard the captain say, was an image of a great
queen; and arnt queens always comely, woman? for who
do you think would be a king, and not choose a handsome
bedfellow ?”
“Talk decent, Benjamin,” said the housekeeper, “ or I won’t
keep your company. I don’t gainsay her being comely to look
on, but I will maintain that she’s likely to show poor conduct.
She seems to think herself too good to talk toa body. From
192 THE PIONEERS.
_
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 Betsey Temple. She
wouldn’t so much as hold discourse with me, when I wanted
to ask her how she felt, on coming home and missing her
mammy.”
“Perhaps she didn’t understand you, woman; you are none
of the best linguister; and then Miss Lizzy has been exercising
the King’s English under a great Lon’on lady, and, for that
matter, can talk the language almost as well as myself, or any
native born British subject. You’ve forgot your schooling, and
the voung mistress is a great scollard.”
“Mistress !” cried Remarkable, “ don’t make one out to be a
nigger, Benjamin. She’s no mistress of mine, and never will
be. And as to speech, I hold myself as second to nobody out
of New England. I was born and raised in Essex county; and
[ve always heer’n say that the Bay State was provarbal for
pronounsation !”
“Tye often heard of that Bay of State,” said Benjamin,
“but can’t say that Pve ever been in it, nor do I know exactly
whereaway it is that it lays; but I suppose there is good
anchorage in it, and that it’s no bad place for the taking of
ling; but for size, it can’t be so much as a yawl to a sloop of
war, compared with the Bay of Biscay, or, mayhap, Torbay.
And as for language, if you want to hear the dictionary
overhauled, like a long-line in a blow, you must go to Wapping,
and listen to the Lon’oners, as they deal out their lingo.
Howsomever, I see no such mighty matter that Miss Lizzy has
been doing to you, good woman, so take another drop of your
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 a bed
and twenty sheep, to good; and I don’t crave to live in a
house where a body mustn’t call a young woman by her given
name to her face. I wel? call her Betsey as much as T please:
THE PIONEERS. 193
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 ’'m of opinion
that it would be as easy to stop a hurricane with a Barcelony
handkerchy, as to bring up your tongue when the stopper is off.
I say, good woman, do they grow many monkeys along the
shores of that Bay of State ?”
“Youre a monkey yourself, Mr. Penguillum,” cried the
enraged housekeeper, “or a bear! a black, beastly bear! and
an’t fit for a decent woman to stay with. Ill never keep your
company agin, sir, if I should live thirty years with the Judge.
Sitch talk is more befitting the kitchen than the keeping-room
of a house of one who is well to do in the world.”
“Took you, Mistress Pitty—Patty—Prettybones, mayhap
I'm some such matter as a bear, as they will find who come to
grapple with me; but dam’me if I’m a monkey—a thing that
chatters without knowing a word of what it says—a parrot;
that will hold a dialogue, for what an honest man knows, in a
dozen languages ; mayhap in the Bay of State lingo; mayhap
in Greek or High Dutch. ' But dost it know what it means
itself? canst answer me that,good woman? Your midshipman
can sing out, and pass the word, when the captain gives the
order, but just 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 Johnny Raws laughing at him.”
“Stop your grog, indeed!” said Remarkable, rising with
great indignation, and seizing a candle; “you're groggy now,
Benjamin, and I'll quit the room before I hear any misbecom-
ing words from you.”
The housekeeper retired, with a manner but little less digni
fied, as she thought, than the air of the heiress, muttering,
as she drew the door after her, with a noise like the report
of a musket, the opprobrious terms of “ drunkard,” “sot,” and
“ beast.”
9
194 THE PIONEERS.
“"Who’s that you say is drunk?” cried Benjamin, fiercely,
rising and making a movement towards Remarkable. “You
talk of mustering yourself 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 resembled not a little the growl-
ing of his favorite animal, the bear itself. Before, however, he
was quite locked—to use the language that would suit the
Della-cruscan humor of certain refined minds of the present
day—“ in the arms of Morpheus,” he spoke aloud, observing
due pauses between his epithets, the impressive terms of
“ monkey,” “ parrot,” “ pic-nic,” “ tar-pot,” and “ linguisters.”
We shall not.attempt to explain his meaning, nor connect his
sentences ; and our readers must be satisfied with our informing
them that they were expressed. with all that coolness of con-
tempt that a man might well be supposed to feel for a monkey.
Nearly two hours passed in this sleep before the major-domo
was awakened by the noisy entrance of Richard, Major Hartmann,
and the master of the mansion. Benjamin so far rallied his con- -
fused faculties, as to shape the course of the two former to their
respective apartments, when he disappeared himself, leaving the
task of securing the house to him who was most interested ia
its safety. Locks and bars were but little attended toin the
early day of that settlement; and so soon as Marmaduke had
given an eye to the enormous fires of his dwelling, he retired.
With this act of prudence closes the first night of our tale.
THE PIONEERS. 195
CHAPTER XVI.
‘* Watch. (aside) Some treason, masters —
Yet stand close.
Mucu Apo apout Noraine.
Iv was fortunate for more than one of the bacchanalians who
left the “Bold Dragoon” late in the evening, that the severe
cold of the season was becoming rapidly less dangerous, as they
threaded the different mazes through the snow-banks that led
to their respective dwellings. Thin, driving clouds began,
towards morning, to flit across the heavens, and the moon set
behind a volume of vapor 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 Elizabeth, observing
the faint glow which appeared on the eastern mountain, long
after the light of the sun had struck the opposite hills, ventured
from the house, with a view to gratify her curiosity with a glance
by daylight, at the surrounding objects, before the tardy revellers
of the Christmas-eve should make their appearance at the
breakfast-table. While she was drawing the folds of her pelisse *
more closely around her form, to guard against a cold that
was yet great, though rapidly yielding, in the small inclosure
that opened in the rear of the house on a little thicket of low
pines, that were springing up where trees of a mightier growth
had lately stood, she was surprised at the voice of Mr. Jones.
“Merry Christmas, merry Christmas to you, cousin Bess,” he.
shouted. ‘“ Ah, ha! an early riser, I see; but I knew I should
steal a march on you. I never was in a house yet, where I
196 THE PIONEERSB,
didn’t get the first Christmas greeting on every soul in it, man,
woman, and child; great and small; black, white, and yellow.
But stop a minute, till I can just slip on my coat; you are about
to look at the improvements, I see, which no one can explain
so well as I, who planned them all. It will be an hour before
"duke and the Major can sleep off Mrs. Hollister’s confounded
distillations, and so I'll come down and go with you.”
Elizabeth turned, and observed her cousin in his night-cap,
with his head out of his bed-room window, where his zeal for
pre-eminence, in defiance of the weather, had impelled him to
thrust it. She laughed, and promising to wait for his company,
re-entered the house, making her appearance again, holding in
her hand a packet that was secured by several large and
important seals, just in time to meet the gentleman.
“Come, Bessy, come,” he cried, drawing one of her arms
through his own; “the snow begins to give, but it will bear us
yet. Don’t you snuff old Pennsylvania in the very air? This
is a vile climate, girl; now at sunset, last evening, it was cold
enough to freeze a man’s zeal, and that, I can tell you, takes a
thermometer near zero for me; then about nine or ten it began
to moderate; at twelve it was quite mild, and here all the rest
of the night I have been so hot, as not to bear a blanket on the
bed.—Holla! Aggy,—merry Christmas, Aggy—lI 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 of
twenty feet in the air, and catching it as it fell, in the palm of
his hand, he withdrew to the kitchen, to exhibit his present,
with a heart as light as his face was happy in its expression.
“Oh, rest easy, my dear coz,” said the young lady; “I took
a look in at my father, who is likely to sleep an hour; and, by
using due vigilance, you will secure all the honors of the season.”
“Why, ’duke is your father, Elizabeth; but duke is a man
THE PIONEERS. | 197
who likes to be foremost, even in trifles. Now, as for myself, I
eare for no such things, except in the way of competition ; for a
thing which is of no moment in itself, may be made of importance
in the way of competition. So it is with your father—he loves
to be first ; but I only struggle with him as a competitor.”
“ Tt’s all very clear, sir,” said Elizabeth ; “ you would not care
a fig for distinction if there were no one in the world but your-
self; but as there happen to be a great many others, why you
must struggle with them all—in the way of competition.”
“Exactly so; I see you are a clever girl, Bess, and one who
does credit to her masters. It was my plan to send you to that
school; for when your father first mentioned the thing, I wrote
a private letter for advice to a judicious friend in the city, who
recommended the very school you went to. *Duke was a little
obstinate at first, as usual, but when he heard the truth, he was
obliged to send you.”
“ Well, a truce to ’duke’s foibles, sir; he is my father; and
if you knew what he has been doing for you while we were
in Albany, you would deal more tenderly with his character.”
“For me!” cried Richard, pausing a moment in his walk to
reflect. “Ob! he got the plans of the new Dutch meeting-
house for me, I suppose’; but I care very little about it, for a
man of a certain kind of talent is seldom aided by any foreign
suggestions: his own brain is the best architect.”
“No such thing,” said Elizabeth, looking provokingly know-
ing. 7
“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 wont take it.” -
—
“ No, no, it is not in the militia,” cried Elizabeth, showing |
the packet in her hand, and then drawing it back with a
coquettish air; “it is an office of both honor and emolument.”
198 THE PIONEERS.
“ Honor and emolument!” echoed Richard, in painful sus-
pense; “show me the paper, girl. Say, is it an office where
there is anything to do ?”
“You have hit it, cousin Dickon ; it is the executive office
of the county ; at least so said my father, when he gave me
this packet to offer you as a Christmas-box.—‘ Surely if any-
thing will please Dickon,’ he said, ‘ it will be to fill the execu-
tive chair of the county.’”
“ Executive chair! what nonsense!” cried the impatient
gentleman, snatching the packet from her hand; “there is no
such office in the county. Eh! what! it is, I declare, a com-
mission, appointing Richard Jones, Esquire, sheriff of the county.
Well, this is kind in ’duke, positively. I must say ’duke has a
warm heart, and never forgets his friends. Sheriff! High
Sheriff of ! It sounds well, Bess, but it shall execute
better. ’Duke is a judicious man after all, and knows human
nature thoroughly. I’m much obliged to him,” continued
Richard, using the skirt of his coat unconsciously, to wipe his.
eyes; “though I would do as much for him any day, as he
shall see, if I have an opportunity to perform any of the duties
of my office on him. It shall be done, cousin*Bess—it shall be
done, I say—How this cursed south wind makes one’s eyes
water !”
“Now, Richard,” said the laughing maiden, “now I think
you will find something to do. I have often heard you com-
plain of old, that there was nothing to do in this new country,
while to my eyes it seemed as if everything remained to be
done.”
“Do!” echoed Richard, who blew his nose, raised his little
form to its greatest elevation, and looked serious. -“ Everything
‘depends on system, girl. I shall sit down this afternoon, and
systematize the county. I must have deputies, you know. J
will divide the county into districts, over which I will place my
deputies ; and I will have one for the village, which I will call
my home department. Let me see—oh! Benjamin! yes,
Benjamin will make a good deputy; he has been naturalized,
THE PIONEERS. 199
and would answer admirably, if he could only ride on horse-
back.”
“Yes, Mr. Sheriff,” said his companion; “and as he under-
stands ropes so well, he would be very expert, should occasion
happen for his services, in another way.”
“ No,” interrupted the other, “I flatter myself that no man
could hang a man better than—that is—ha—oh ! yes, Benjamin
would do extremely well, in such an unfortunate dilemma, if
he could be persuaded to attempt it. But I should despair of
the thing. I never could induce him to hang, or teach him to
ride on horseback. J must seek another deputy.”
“Well, sir, as you have abundant leisure for all these import-
ant affairs, I beg that you will forget that you are High Sheriff,
and devote some little of your time to gallantry. Where are
the beauties and improvements which you were to show me 2”
“Where? why everywhere. Here I have laid out some
new streets; and when they are opened, and the trees felled,
and they are all built up, will they not make a fine town?
Well, ’duke is a liberal hearted fellow, with all his stubborn-
ness.—Yes, yes, | must have at least four deputies, besides a
jailor.”
“T see no streets in the direction of our walk,” said Elizabeth,
“unless you call the short avenues through these pine bushes
by that name. Surely you do not contemplate building houses,
very soon, in that forest before us, and in those swamps.”
“ We must run our streets by the compass, coz, and disregard
trees, hills, ponds, stumps, or, in fact, anything but posterity.
Such is the will of your father, and your father, you know cad
“Had you made Sheriff, Mr. Jones,” interrupted the lady,
with a tone that said very plainly to the gentleman, that he
was touching a forbidden subject.
“T know it, I know it,” cried Richard; “ and if it were in my
power, I’d make "duke a king. He is a noble hearted fellow,
and would make an excellent king; that is, if he had a good |
prime minister.—But who have we here ? voices in the bushes ;—
200 TIE PICNEERS. =
a combination about mischief, ’ll wager my commission. Let
us draw near, and examine a little into the matter.”
During this dialogue, as the parties had kept in motion,
Richard and his cousin advanced some distance from the house,
into the open space in the rear of the village, where, as may be
gathered from the conversation, streets were planned, and future
dwellings contemplated ; but where, in truth, the only mark of
improvement that was to be seen, was a neglected clearing
along the skirt of a dark forest of mighty pines, over which the
bushes or sprouts of the same tree had sprung up, to a height
that interspersed the fields of snow with little thickets of ever-
green. The rushing of the wind, as it whistled through the
tops of these mimic trees, prevented the footsteps of the pair
from being heard, while the branches concealed their persons.
Thus aided, the listeners drew nigh to a spot where the young
hunter, Leather-stocking, and the Indian chief, were collected
in an earnest consultation. The former was urgent in his man-
ner, and seemed to think the subject of deep importance, while
Natty appeared to listen with more than his usual attention, to
what ‘the other was saying. Mohegan stood a little on one
side, with his head sunken on his chest, his hair falling forward,
so as to conceal most of his features, and his whole attitude
expressive of deep dejection, if not of shame.
“Let us withdraw,” whispered Elizabeth; “we are intruders,
and can have no right to listen to the secrets of these men.”
“No right!” returned Richard, a little impatiently, in the
same tone, and drawing her arm so forcibly through his own as
to prevent her retreat; “ you forget, cousin, that it is my duty
to preserve the peace of the county, and see the laws executed.
These wanderers frequently commit depredations; though I do
not think John would do anything secretly. Poor fellow! he .
was quite boozy last night, and hardly seems to be over it yet.
Let us draw nigher, and hear what they say.”
Notwithstanding the lady’s reluctance, Richard, stimulated
doubtless by his nice sense of duty, prevailed ; and they were
soon so near as distinctly to hear sounds.
THE PIONEERS. 201
“The bird must be had,” said Natty, “by fair means or foul.
Heigho! Ive 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 now. ‘To be sure, there is a
different taste to a partridge, and a well-fatted turkey; though,
to my eating, beaver’s tail and bear’s 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 anything
extrawnary, that I often lose my aim. Now, when I killed the
she-bear this fall, with her cubs, though they were so mighty
ravenous, I knocked them over one at a shot, and loaded while
I dodged the trees in the bargain; but this is a very different
thing, Mr. Oliver.”
“This,” cried the young man with an accent that sounded as
if he took a bitter pleasure in his poverty, while he held a
shillmg 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.”
“TY would rather it should be John, lad; my heart jumps
into my mouth, because you set your mind so much on’t; and
I’m sartain that I shall miss the bird. Them Indians can shoot
one time as well as another; nothing ever troubles them. I
say, John, here’s a shilling; take my rifle, and get a shot at
the big turkey they’ve put up at the stump. Mr. Oliver is over
anxious for the creater, and [’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 —
202 THE PIONEERS.
“When John was young, eyesight was not straighter than
his bullet. The Mingo squaws cried out at the sound of his
rifle. The Mingo warriors were made squaws. When did he
ever shoot twice! The eagle went above the clouds, when he
passed the wigwam of Chingachgook ; his feathers were plenty
with the women. But see,” he said, raising his voice from the
low, mournful tones in which he had spoken, to a pitch of keen
excitement, and stretching forth both hands—“ they shake like
a deer at the wolf’s howl. Is John old? When was a Mohican
a squaw, with seventy winters! No! the white man brings old
age with him—rum is his tomahawk !”
“Why then do you use it, old man?” exclaimed the young
hunter; “why will one, so noble by nature, aid the devices of
the devil, by making himself a beast !”
“ Beast! is John a beast ?” replied the Indian, slowly ; “ yes;
you say no lie, child of the Fire-eater! John is a beast. The
smokes were once few in these hills. The deer would lick the
hand of a white man, and the birds rest on his head. They
were strangers to him. My fathers came from the shores of the
salt lake. They fled before rum. They came to their grand-
father, and they lived in peace; or, when they did raise the
hatchet, it was to strike it into the brain of a Mingo. They
gathered around the council-fire, and what they said was done.
Then John was the 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 moun-
tains; and they broke up the councils, and took the lands.
The evil spirit was in their jugs, and they let him loose. Yes,
yes—you say no lie, Young Eagle; John is a Christian beast.”
“Forgive me, old warrior,” cried the youth, grasping his -
hand; “I should be the last to reproach you. The curses of
heaven light on the cupidity that has destroyed such a race.
Remember, John, that I am of your family, and it is now my
greatest pride.”
The muscles of Mohegan relaxed a little, and he said, more
mildly —
THE PIONEERS. 203
“ You are a Delaware, my son; your words are not heard—
John cannot shoot.”
“JT thought that lad had Indian blood in him,” whispered
Richard, “by the awkward way he handled my horses last
night. You see, coz, they never use harness. But the poor
fellow shall have two shots at the turkey, if he wants it, for Pll
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 ?”
. ‘Butlohitan again! do you think a half-breed, like him, will
refuse money? No, no, girl, he will take the shilling; ay ! and
even rum too, notwithstanding he moralizes so much about it.
But I'll give the lad a chance for his turkey, for that Billy
Kirby is one of the best marksmen in the country ; that is, if we
except the—the gentleman.”
“Then,” said Elizabeth, who found her strength unequal to
her will, “then, sir, I will speak.” She advanced, with an air
of determination, in front of her cousin, and entered the little
circle of bushes that surrounded the trio of hunters. Her
appearance startled the youth, who at first made an unequivocal
motion towards retiring, but, recollecting himself, bowed, by
lifting his cap, and resumed his attitude of leaning on his rifle.
Neither Natty nor Mohegan betrayed any emotion, though the
appearance of Elizabeth was so entirely unexpected.
“T find,” she said, “ that the old Christmas sport of shooting
the turkey is yet in use among you. I feel inclined to try my
chance for a bird. Which of you will take this money, and,
after paying my fee, give me the aid of his rifle ?”
“Ts this a sport for a lady ?” exclaimed the young hunter,
with an emphasis that could not well be mistaken, and with a .—
rapidity that showed he spoke without consulting anything but
feeling.
¥
204 THE PIONEEBS,
“Why not, sir? If it be inhuman, the sin is not confined
to one sex only. But I have my humor as well as others.
I ask not your assistance; but”—turning to Natty, and
dropping a dollar in his hand—* this old veteran of the forest
will not be so ungallant as to refuse one fire for a lady.”
Leather-stocking dropped the meney into his pouch, and
throwing up the end of his rifle, he freshened his priming ; and,
first laughing in his usual manner, he threw the piece over his
shoulder, and said—
“Tf 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 Schoharie, count greatly on coming to the merry-
makings; and so, lad, you shouldn’t be short with the lady.
Come, let us go forward, for if we wait, the finest bird will be
gone.”
“But I have a right before you, Natty, and shall try my own
luck first. You will excuse me, Miss Temple; I have much
reason to wish that bird, and may seem ungallant, but 1 must
claim my privileges.”
“Claim anything that is justly your own, sir,” returned the
lady ; “we are both adventurers; and this is my knight. [I
trust my fortune to his hand and eye. Lead on, Sir Leather-
stocking, and we will follow.”
Natty, who seemed pleased with the frank address of the
voung and beauteous Elizabeth, who had so singularly intrusted
him with such a commission, returned the bright smile with
which she had addressed him, by his own peculiar mark of
mirth, and moved across the snow, towards the spot whence the
sounds of boisterous mirth proceeded, with the long strides of a
hunter. His companions followed in silence, the youth casting
frequent and uneasy glances towards Elizabeth, who was detained
by a motion from Richard.
“T should think, Miss Temple,” he said, so soon as the others
were out of hearing, “ that if you really wished a turkey, you
THE PrIONEFR®, 2058
would not have taken a stranger for the office, and such a one
as Leather-stocking. But I can hardly believe that you are
serious, for I have fifty at this moment shut up in the coops, in
every stage of fat, so that you might choose any quality you
pleased. There are six that Iam trying an experiment on, by
giving them brick-bats with is
“Enough, cousin Dickon,” interrupted the lady; “I do
wish the bird, and it is because I so wish, that I commissioned
this Mr. Leather-stocking.”
“Did you ever hear of the great shot that I made at the
wolf, cousin Elizabeth, who was carrying off your father’s
sheep?” said Richard, drawing himself up into an air of dis-
pleasure. “He had the sheep on his back; and had the head
of the wolf been on the other side, I should have killed him
dead; as it was Ay
“ You killed the sheep,—I know it all, dear coz. But would
it have been decorous for the High Sheriff of
such sports as these ?” 3
“Surely you did not think that I intended actually to fire
with my own hands?” said Mr. Jones. “ But let us follow, and
see the shooting. There is no fear of anything unpleasant
to mingle in
oceurring to a female in this new country, especially to your
father’s daughter, and in my presence.”
“ My father’s daughter fears nothing, sir, more especially
when escorted by the highest executive officer in the county.”
She took his arm, and he led her through the mazes of the
bushes to the spot where most of the young men of the village,
were collected for the sports of shooting a Christmas match,
and whither Natty and his companions had already preceded
them.
206 THE PIONEERS.
CHAPTER XVII.
I guess, by all this quaint array,
The burghers hold their sports to-day,
Scorr.
Tue ancient amusement of shooting the Christmas turkey is
one of the few sports that the settlers of a new country seldom
or never neglect to observe. It was connected with the daily
practices of a people who often laid aside the axe or the scythe
to seize the rifle, as the deer glided through the forests they
were felling, or the bear entered their rough meadows to scent
the air of a clearing, and to scan, with a look of sagacity, the
progress of the invader.
On the present occasion, the. usual amusement of the day
had been a little hastened, in order to allow a fair opportunity
to Mr. Grant, whose exhibition was not less a treat to the young
sportsmen, than the one which engaged their present attention.
The owner of the birds was a free black, who had prepared for,
the occasion a collection of game that was admirably qualified
to inflame the appetite of an epicure, and was well adapted to
the means and skill of the different competitors, who were of all
ages. He had offered to the younger and more humble marks-
men divers birds of an inferior quality, and some shooting had
already taken place, much to the pecuniary advantage of the
sable owner of the game. The order of the sports was
extremely simple, and well understood. The bird was fastened
by a string to the stump of a large pine, the side of which,
.owards the point where the marksmen were placed, had been
flattened with an axe, in order that it might serve the purpose
of a target by which the merit of each individual might be
ascertained. The» distance between the stump and shooting- —
THE PIONEERS. 207
stand was one hundred measured yards: a foot more or a foot
less being thought an invasion of the right of one of the
parties. The negro affixed his own price to every bird, and
the terms of the chance; but when these were once established,
he was obliged by the strict principles of public justice that
prevailed in the country, to admit any adventurer who might
offer.
The throng consisted of some twenty or thirty young men,
most of whom had rifles, and a collection of all the boys in the
village. The little urchins, clad in coarse but warm garments,
stood gathered around the more distinguished marksmen, with
their hands stuck under their waistbands, listening eagerly to
the boastful stories of skill that had been exhibited on former
occasions, and were already emulating in their hearts these
wonderful deeds in gunnery.
{The chief speaker was the man who had been mentioned by
Natty as Billy Kirby. This fellow, whose occupation when he
did labor, was that of clearing lands, or chopping jobs, was of
great stature, and carried, in his very air, the index of his
character. He was a. noisy, boisterous, reckless lad, whose
good-natured eye contradicted the bluntness and bullying tenor
of his speech. For weeks he would lounge around the taverns
of thggrourty, in a state of perfect idleness, or doing small jobs
roeiouos and his meals, and cavilling with applicants about
the prices of his labor: frequently preferring idleness to an
abatement of a tittle of his independence, or a cent in his wages.
But when these embarrassing points were satisfactorily arranged,
he would shoulder his axe and his rifle, slip his arms through
the straps of his pack, and enter the woods with the tread of
a Hercules, | His first object was to léarn his limits, round
which he would pace, occasionally freshening, with a blow of
his axe, the marks on the boundary trees; and then he would
proceed with an air of great deliberation, to the centre of his
premises, and, throwing aside his superfluous garments, measure,
with a knowing eye, one or two of the nearest trees that were
towering apparently into the very clouds as he gazed upwards.
208 THE PIONEERS.
Commonly selecting one of the most noble for the first trial of
his power, he would approach it with a listless air, whistling a
Jow tune; and wielding his axe with a certain flourish, not
unlike the salutes of a fencing master, he would strike a light
blow into the bark, and measure his distance. The pause that
followed was ominous of the fall of the forest which had flou-
rished there for centuries. The heavy and brisk blows that he
struck were soon succeeded by the thundering report of the
trea, as it came, first cracking and threatening, with the separa-
tion of its own last ligaments, then threshing and tearing with
its branches the tops of its surrounding brethren, and finally
meeting the ground with a shock but little inferior to an
earthquake. From that moment the sounds of the axe were
ceaseless, while the falling of the trees was like a distant
cannonading ; and the daylight broke into the depths of the
woods with the suddenness of a winter morning.
For days, weeks, nay months, Billy Kirby would toil with
an ardor that evinced his native spirit, and with an effect that
seemed magical, until, his chopping being ended, his stentorian
lungs could be heard emitting sounds, as he called to his
patient oxen, which rang through the hills like the cries of an
alarm. He had been often heard, on a mild summer'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 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 labor, light the heaps of timber,
and march away under the blaze of the prostrate forest, like
the conqueror of some city, who, having first prevailed over his
adversary, applies the torch as the finishing blow to his conquest,
For a long time Billy Kirby would then be seen, sauntering
around the taverns, the rider of scrub-races, the bully of cock-
fights, and not unfrequently the hero of such sports as the one
in hand.
THE PIONEERS, 209
Between him and the Leather-stocking, .there had long
existed a jealous rivalry on the point of skill with the rifle.
Notwithstanding the long practice of Natty, it was commonly
supposed that the steady nerves and quick eye of the wood-
chopper rendered him his equal. The competition had, how-
ever, been confined hitherto to boastings, and comparisons made
from their success in various hunting excursions; but this was
the first time that they had ever come in open collision. A
good deal of higgling about the price of the choicest bird had
taken place between Billy Kirby and its owner before Natty and
his companions rejoined the sportsmen. It had, however, been
settled at one shilling* a shot, which was the highest sum ever
exacted, the black taking care to protect himself from losses as
much as possible, by the conditions of the sport. The turkey
was already fastened at the “mark,” but its body was entirely
hid by the surrounding snow, nothing being visible but its red
swelling head and its long neck. If the bird was injured by
any bullet that struck below the snow, it was to continue the
property of its present owner ; but if a feather was touched in a
visible part, the animal became the prize of the successful
adventurer.
These terms were loudly proclaimed by the negro, who was
seated in the snow, in a somewhat hazardous vicinity to his
favorite bird, when Elizabeth and her cousin approached the
noisy sportsmen. The sounds of mirth and contention sensibly
lowered at this unexpected visit; but, after a moment’s pause,
the curious interest exhibited in the face of the young lady,
together with her smiling air, restored the freedom of the
morning ; though it was somewhat chastened, both in language
and vehemence, by the presence of such a spectator.
“Stand out of the way there, boys !” cried the wood-chopper,
* Before the revolution, each province had its own money of account, though
neither coined any but copper pieces. In New York the Spanish dollar was
divided into eight shillings, each of the value of a fraction more than sixpence
sterling. At present the Union has provided a deciinal system, with coins to
tepresent it.
210 THE PIONEERS.
who was placing himself at the shooting point—“ stand out of
the way, you little rascals, or I will shoot through you. Now
Brom, take leave of your turkey.”
“Stop !” cried the young hunter; “I am a candidate for a
chance. Here is my shilling, Brom; I wish a shot too.”
“You may wish it in welcome,” cried Kirby, “ but if I ruffle
the gobbler’s feathers, how are you to get it? Is money so
plenty in your deer-skin pocket, that you pay for a chance that
you may never have ?”
“How know you, sir, how plenty money is in my pocket ?”
said the youth fiercely. ‘Here is my shilling, Brom, and I
claim a right to shoot.”
‘Don’t be crabbed, my boy,” said the other, who was very
coolly fixing his flint.’ “They say you have a hole in your left
shoulder, yourself: so I think Brom may give you a fire for
half price. It will take a keen one to ‘hit that bird, I can tell
you, my lad, even if I give you a chance, which is what | 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 a short distance for a long rifle.”
“ What, old Leather-stocking, are you out this morning?”
eried his reckless opponent. “ Well, fair play’s a jewel. I’ve
the lead of you, old fellow; so here goes for a dry throat or a
good dinner.”
The countenance of the negro evinced not only all the
interest which his pecuniary adventure might occasion, but also
the keen excitement that the sport produced in the others,
though with a very different wish as to the result. While
the wood-chopper was slowly and steadily raising his rifle, he
bawled—
“ Fair play, Billy Kirby—stand back—make ’em ated back,
: \
THE PIONEERS. 211
boys—gib a nigger fair play—poss-up, gobbler; shake a head,
fool; don’t you see ’em taking aim 2”
These cries, which were intended as much to distract the
attention of the marksman as for anything else, were fruitless.
The nerves of the wood-chopper were not so easily shaken,
and he took his aim with the utmost deliberation. Stillness
prevailed for a moment, and he fired. The head of the turkey
_ was seen to dash on one side, and its wings were spread in
momentary fluttering; but it settled itself down calmly into its
bed of snow, and glanced its eyes uneasily around. For a time
long enough to draw a deep breath, not a sound was heard.
The silence was then broken by the noise of the negro, who
laughed, and shook his body, with all kinds of antics, rolling
over in the snow in the excess of delight.
“Well done a gobbler,” he cried, jumping up and affecting
to embrace his bird; “I tell ’em to poss-up, and you see ’em
dodge. Gib anoder shillin, Billy, and hab anoder shot.”
“No—the shot is mine,” said the young hunter; “ you have
my money already. Leave the mark, and let me try my luck.”
“ Ah! it’s but money thrown away, lad,” said Leather-stocking.
“ A turkey’s head and neck is but a small mark for a new hand
and a lame shoulder. You'd best let me take the fire, and
maybe we can make some settlement with the lady about the
bird.”
“The chance is mine,” said the young hunter. “Clear the
ground, that I may take it.”
The discussions and disputes concerning the last shot were
now abating, it having been determined that if the turkey’s head
had been anywhere but just where it was at 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 wounds are apt to weaken flesh, and to my judgment,
youll not shoot so well asin common. If you will fire, you
212 THE PIONEERS.
should shoot quick, before there is time to shake off the
aim.”
“Fair play,” again shouted the negro; “fair play—gib a nig-
ger fair play. What right a Nat-Bumppo advise a young
man? Let ’em shoot—clear a ground.”
~The youth fired with great rapidity, but no motion was
made by the turkey; and when the examiners for the ball
returned from the “mark,” they declared that he had missed
the stump.
Elizabeth observed the change in his countenance, and could
not help feeling surprise, that one so evidently superior to
his companions should feel a trifling loss so sensibly. But her
own champion was now preparing to enter the lists.
The mirth of Brom, which had been again excited, though in
a much smaller degree than before, by the failure of the second
adventurer, vanished the instant Natty took his stand. His
skin became mottled with large brown spots, that fearfully sullied
the lustre of his native ebony, while his enormous lips gradually
compressed around two rows of ivory that had hitherto been
shining in his visage, like pearls set in jet. His nostrils, at all
times the most conspicuous features of his face, dilated, until
they covered the greater part of the diameter of his countenance ;
while his brown and bony hands unconsciously grasped the’
snow-crust near him, the excitement of the moment completely
overcoming his native dread of cold.
While these indications of apprehension were exhibited in the
sable owner of the turkey, the man who gave rise to this extra-
ordinary emotion was as calm and collected as if there was not
to be a single spectator of his skill.
“TI was down in the Dutch settlements on the Schoharie,” said
Natty, carefully removing the leather guard from the lock of
his rifle, “just before the breaking out of the last war, and there
was a shooting match among the boys; so I took a hand. I
think I opened a good many Dutch eyes that day; for I won
the powder-horn, three bars of lead, and a pound of as good
powder as ever flashed in pan. Lord! how they did swear in
THE PIONEERS, DA os!
Jarman! They did tell me of one drunken Dutchman who said -
he’d have the life of me before I got back to the lake 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.
“A snap, a snap!” shouted the negro, springing from his
crouching posture like a madman, before his bird. “A snap
good as fire—Natty Bumppo gun he snap—Natty Bumppo miss
a turkey !”
“Natty Bumppo hit a nigger,” said the indignant old hunter,
“if you don’t get out of the way, Brom. It’s contrary to the
reason of the thing, boy, that a snap should count for a fire,
when one is nothing more than a fire-stone striking a steel pan,
and the other is sudden death; so get out of my way, boy, and
let me show Billy Kirby how to shoot a Christmas turkey.”
“Gib a nigger fair play!” cried the black, who continued
resolutely to maintain his post, and making that appeal to the
justice of his auditors, which the degraded condition of his caste
so naturally suggested. “ Ebery 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, Leather-stocking. If you fire ag’in
you must pay up the other shilling. I b’heve I'll try luck once
more myself; so Brom, here’s my money, and I take the next
fire.” -
“Tt’s likely you know the laws of the woods better than |
do, Billy Kirby,” returned Natty. “You come in with the
settlers, with an ox-goad in your hand, and I come in with moc-
214 THE PIONEERS.
easins 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 snapping is as good as firing
when J pull the trigger.”
“ Leab it to Massa Jone,” said the alarmed negro ; “he know
ebery ting.”
This appeal to the knowledge of Richard was too flattering to
be unheeded. He therefore advanced a little from the spot
whither the delicacy of Elizabeth had induced her to withdraw,
and gave the following opinion, with the gravity that the subject
and his own rank demanded :—
“There seems to be a difference in opinion,” he said, “on the
subject of Nathaniel Bumppo’s right to shoot at Abraham
Freeborn’s turkey, without the said Nathaniel paying one shilling
for the privilege.” This fact was too evident to be denied, and
after pausing a moment, that the audience might. digest his
premises, Richard proceeded. “It seems proper that I should
decide this question, as 1 am bound to preserve the peace of the
county ; and men with deadly weapons in their hands should
not be heedlessly left to contention, and their own malignant
passions. It appears that there was no agreement, either in
writing or in words, on the disputed point; therefore we must
reason from analogy, which is, as it were, comparing one thing
with another. Now, in duels, where both parties shoot, it is
generally the rule that a snap is a fire; and if such is the rule,
where the party has a right to fire back again, it seems to me
unreasonable to say, that a man may stand snapping at a
defenceless turkey all day. I therefore am of opinion that
Nathaniel Bumppo has lost his chance, and must pay another
shilling before he renews his right.”
As this opinion came from so high a quarter, and was
delivered with effect, it. silenced all murmurs,—for the whole of
the spectators had begun to take sides with great warmth,—
except from the Leather-stocking himself.
“YT ‘think Miss Elizabeth’s thoughts should be taken,” said
Natty. “T’ve known the squaws give very good counsel when
THE PIONEERS. . 2B»
the Irdians have been dumbfoundered. If she says that I
ought to lose, I agree to give it up.”
“Then I adjudge you to be a loser for this time,” said Miss
Temple ; “but pay your money and renew your chance; unless
Brom will sell me the bird for a dollar. I will give him the
money, and save the life of the poor victim.”
This proposition was evidently but little relished by any of
the listeners, even the negro feeling the evil excitement of the
chances. In the meanwhile, as Billy Kirby was preparing him-
self for another shot, Natty left the stand, with an extremely
dissatisfied manner, muttering—
“ There hasn’t been such a thing as a good flint sold at the
foot of the lake since the Indian traders used to come into the
country ; and if a body should go into the flats along the
streams in the hills to hunt for such a thing, it’s ten to one but
they will be all covered up with the plough. Heigho! it seems
to me that just as the game grows scarce, and a body wants the
best ammunition to get a livelihood, everything that’s bad falls
on him, like a judgment. But I'll change the stone, for Billy
Kirby hasn’t the eye for such a mark, I know.”
The wood-chopper seemed now entirely sensible that. his
reputation depended on his care; nor did he neglect any means
to insure success. He drew up his rifle, and renewed his aim
again and again, still appearing reluctant to fire. No sound
was heard from even Brom, during these portentous movements,
until Kirby discharged his piece, with the same want of success
as before. Then, indeed, the shouts of the negro rang through
the bushes, and sounded among the trees of the neighboring
forest like the outcries of a tribe of Indians. He laughed,
rolling his head first on one side, then on the other, until nature
seemed exhausted with mirth. He danced until his legs were
wearied with motion, in the snow; and, in short, he exhibited
all that violence of joy that characterizes the mirth of a thought-
less negro.
The wood-chopper had exerted all his art, and felt a propor-
tionate degree of disappointment at the failure. He first
216 THE PIONEERS.
examined the bird with the utmost attention, and more thar
once suggested that he had touched its feathers; but the voice
of the multitude was against him, for it felt disposed to listen te
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 try-
ing. You needn’t make an uproar, like a falling pine-tree,
about it. Show me the man who can do it.”
“Look this a-way, Billy Kirby,” said Leather-stocking, “and
let them clear the mark, and I'll show you a man who’s made
better shots afore now, and that when he’s been hard pressed by
the savages and wild beasts.”
“Perhaps there is one whose rights come before ours,
Leather-stocking,” said Miss Temple ; “if so, we will waive our
privilege.”
“Tf it be me that you have reference to,” said the young
hunter, “I shall decline another chance. My shoulder is yet
weak, I find.”
Elizabeth regarded his manner, and thought that she could
discern a tinge on his cheek that spoke the shame of conscious
poverty. She said no more, but suffered her own champion to
make a trial. Although Natty Bumppo had certainly made
hundreds of more momentous shots at his enemies or his
game, yet he never exerted himself more to excel. He raised
his piece three several times; once to get his range; once to
calculate his distance; and once because the bird, alarmed by the
death-like stillness, turned its head quickly to examine its foes.
But the fourth time he fired. The smoke, the report, and the
momentary shock, prevented most of the spectators from
instantly knowing the result; but Elizabeth, when she saw her
champion drop the end of his rifle in the snow and open his
mouth in one of its silent laughs, and then proceed very coolly
to recharge his piece, knew that he had been successful. The
THE PIONEERS. 212
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 deputy in the matter, and the
bird is her property.”
“And a good deputy you have proved yourself,” returned
Elizabeth,—* so good, cousin Richard, that I would advise you
to remember his qualities.” She paused, and the gaiety that
beamed on her face gave place to a more serious earnestness.
She even blushed a little as she turned to the young hunter,
and, with the charm of a woman’s manner, added—“ But it was
only to see an exhibition of the far-famed skill of Leather-stock-
ing, that I tried my fortunes. Will you, sir, accept the bird as
a small peace-offering for the hurt that prevented your own
success 2”
The expression with which the youth received this present
was indescribable. He appeared to yield to the blandishment
of her air, in opposition to a strong inward impulse to the con-
trary. He bowed, and raised the victim silently from her feet,
but continued silent.
Elizabeth handed the black a piece of silver as a remuneration
for his loss, which had ,some effect in again unbending his
muscles, and then expressed to her companion her readiness to
return homeward.
“Wait a minute, cousin Bess,” cried Richard; “there is an
uncertainty about the rules of this sport that it is proper I should
remove. If you will appoint a committee, gentlemen, to wait
on me this morning, I will draw up in writing a set of regula-
tions ” He stopped, with some indignation, for at that
instant a hand was laid familiarly on the shoulder of the High
Sheriff of :
“A merry Christmas to you, cousin Dickon,” said Judge
Temple, who had approached the party unperceived: “I must
have a vigilant eye to my daughter, sir, if you are to be seized
daily with these gallant fits. I admire the taste which would
introduce a lady to such scenes !”
10
~ 218 THE PIONEERS.
“Tt is her own perversity, duke,” cried the disappointed
Sheriff, who felt the loss of the first salutation as grievously as
many a man would a much greater misfortune; “and I must
say that she comes honestly by it. I led her out to show her
the improvements, but away she scampered, through the snow,
at the first sound of fire-arms, the same as if she had been
brought up in a camp, instead of a first-rate boarding-school.
I do think, Judge Temple, that such dangerous amusements
should be suppressed by statute; nay, I doubt whether they are
not already indictable at common law.”
“Well, sir, as you are Sheriff of the county, it becomes your
duty to examine into the matter,” returned the smiling Marma-
duke. “I perceive that Bess has executed her commission, and
I hope it met with a favorable reception.” Richard glanced his
eye at the packet which he held in his hand, and the slight
anger produced by disappointment vanished instantly.
“Ah! *duke, my dear cousin,” he said, “step a little on one
side; I have something I would say to you.” Marmaduke
complied, and the Sheriff led him to a little distance in the
bushes, and continued—“ First, ’duke, let me thank you for your
friendly interest with the Council and the Governor, without
which, I am confident that the greatest merit would avail but
little. But we are sisters’ children—we are sisters’ children ;
and you may use me like one of your horses; ride me or drive
me, ’duke, I am wholly yours. But in my humble opinion, this
young companion of Leather-stocking requires looking after.
He has a very dangerous propensity for turkey.”
“Leave him to my management, Dickon,” said the Judge,
“and I will cure his appetite by indulgence. It is with him
that I would speak. Let us rejoin the sportsmen.”
\
\
7
THE PIONEERS, «19
CHAPTER XVUI.
Poor wretch! the mother that him bare,
If she had been in presence there,
In his wan face, and sunburnt hair,
She had not known her child.
Scorr.
Ir diminished, in no degree, the effect produced by the con
versation 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
Richard had led him to that where the youth was standing, lean-
ing on his rifle, and contemplating the dead bird at his feet. The
presence of Marmaduke did not interrupt the sports, which were
resumed, by loud and clamorous disputes concerning the con-
ditions of a chance, that involved the life of a bird of much
inferior quality to the last. Leather-stocking and Mohegan had
alone drawn aside to their youthful companion ; and, although
in the immediate vicinity of such a throng, the following con-
versation was heard only by those who were interested in it.
“T have greatly injured you, Mr. Edwards,” said the Judge;
but the sudden and inexplicable start, with which the person
spoken to received this unexpected address, caused him to pause
a moment. As no answer was given, and the strong emotion
exhibited in the countenance of the youth gradually passed
away, he continued—* But, fortunately, it is in some measure
in my power to compensate you for what I have done. My
kinsman, Richard Jones, has received an appointment that will,
in future, deprive me of his assistance, and leaves me, just now,
destitute of one who might greatly aid me with his pen. Your
manner, notwithstanding appearances, is a sufficient proof of
your education, nor will thy shoulder suffer thee to labor, for
ys
2218 THE PIONEERS.
some time to come.” (Marmaduke insensibly relapsed into the
language of the Friends as he grew warm.) “ My doors are
open to thee, my young friend, for in this infant country we
harbor no suspicions: little offering to tempt the capidity of the
evil disposed. Become my assistant, for at least a season, and
receive such compensation as tly 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 for self-command, he replied—
“T would serve you, sir, or any other man, for an honest
support, for I do not affect to conceal that my necessities are
very great, even beyond what appearances would indicate; but
I am fearful that such new duties would interfere too much
with more important business: so that I must decline your
offer, and depend on my rifle, as before, for subsistence.”
Richard here took occasion to whisper to the young lady,
who had shrunk a little from the foreground of the picture—
“This, you see, cousin Bess, is the natural reluctance of a
half-breed to leave the savage state. Their attachment toa
wandering life is, I verily believe, unconquerable.”
“It isa precarious life,” observed Marmaduke, without hearing
the Sheriff’s observation, “and one that brings more evils with
it than present suffering. Trust me, young friend, my expe-
rience is greater than thine, when I tell thee, that the unsettled
life of these hunters is of vast disadvantage for temporal pur-
poses, and it totally removes one from the influence of more
sacred things.”
“No, no, Judge,” interrupted the Leather-stocking, who was
hitherto unseen, or disregarded; “take him into your shanty
in welcome, but tell him truth. I have lived in the woods for
forty long years, and have spent five at a time without seeing
the light of a clearing bigger than a wind-row in the trees; and
[ should like to know where you'll find a man, in his sixty-
eighth year, who can get an easier living, for all your better-
ments and your deer-laws: and, as for honesty, or doing
THE PIONEERS. 221
what’s right between man and man, I'll not turn my back to
the longest winded deacon on your Patent.”
“Thou art an exception, Leather-stocking,” returned the
Judge, nodding good-naturedly at the hunter; “for thou hast
a temperance unusual in thy class, and a hardihood exceeding
thy years. But this youth is made of materials too precious to
be wasted in the forest. I entreat thee to join my family, if it
be but till thy arm be healed. My daughter here, who is
mistress of my dwelling, will tell thee that thou art welcome.”
“Certainly,” said Elizabeth, whose earnestness was a little
checked by female reserve. “The unfortunate would be wel-
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 ose in the coops, and of the best kind, I can
assure you.”
Finding himself thus ably seconded, Marmaduke Fst his
advantage to the utmost. He entered into a detail of the duties
that would attend the situation, and circumstantially mentioned
the reward, and all those points which are deemed of impor-
tance among men of business. The youth listened in extreme
agitation. There was an evident contest in his feelings; at
times he appeared to wish eagerly for the change, and then
again the incomprehensible expression of disgust would cross
his features, like a dark cloud obscuring a noonday sun.
The Indian, in whose manner the depression of self-abasement
was most powerfully exhibited, listened to the offers of the
Judge with an interest that increased with each syllable. Gra-
dually he drew nigher to the group; and when, with his keen
glance, he detected the most marked evidence of yielding in the
countenance of his young companion, he changed at once from
his attitude and look of shame to the front of an Indian warrior,
and moving, with great dignity, closer to the parties, he spoke—
“Listen to your Father,” he said; “his words are old. Let
the Young Eagle and the Great Land Chief eat together ; let
them sleep, without fear, near each other. The children of
Zoe THE PIONEERS.
Miquon love not blood; they are just, and will doright. The
sun must rise and set often, before men can make one family ;
it is not the work of a day, but of many winters. The Mingoes
and the Delawares are born enemies; their blood can never
mix in the wigwam: it never will run in the same stream in
the battle. What makes the brother of Miquon and the Young
Eagle foes? They are of the same tribe: their fathers and
mothers are one. Learn to wait, my son: you are a Delaware,
and an Indian warrior knows how to be patient.”
This figurative address: seemed to have great weight with
the young man, who gradually yielded to the representations of
Marmaduke, and eventually consented to his proposal. It was,
however, to be an experiment only; and if either of the parties
thought fit to rescind the engagement, it was left at his option
‘go todo. The remarkable and ill-concealed reluctance of the
youth to accept of an offer, which most men in his situation
would consider as.an unhoped-for elevation, occasioned. no little
surprise in those to whom he was a stranger; and it left a
slight impression to his disadvantage. When the parties sepa-
rated, they very naturally made the subject the topic of a conver-
sation, which we shall relate ; first commencing with the Judge,
his daughter, and Richard, who were slowly pursuing the way
back to the Mansion-house.
“T have surely endeavored to remember the holy mandates
of our Redeemer, when he bids us ‘love them who despitefully
use you,’ in my intercourse with this incomprehensible boy,”
said Marmaduke. “I know not what there is in my dwelling
to frighten a lad of his years, unless it may be thy presence and
visage, Bess.” |
“No, no,” said Richard, with great simplicity; “it is not
cousin Bess. But when did you ever know a half-breed, ’duke,
who could bear civilization? For that matter, they are worse
than the savages themselves? Did you notice how knock-
kneed he stood, Elizabeth, and what a wild look he had in his
eyes 2” .
“I heeded not his eyes, nor his knees, which would be all
THE PIONEERS. 223
the better for a little humbling. Really, my dear sir, I think
you did exercise the Christian virtue of patience to the utmost.
I was disgusted with his airs, long before he consented to make
one of our family. Truly, we are much honored by the associ-
ation! In what apartment is he to be placed, sir; and at what
table is he to receive his nectar and ambrosia 2”
“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.”
“T am but too happy, Dickon, to tempt him to eat with oug-.
sclves,” said Marmaduke, “to think of offering even the indig-
nity you propose.”
“Then, sir,” said Elizabeth, with an air that was slightly |
affected, as if submitting to her father’s orders in opposition to.
her own will, “it is your pleasure that he be a gentleman.” :
“Certainly; he is to fill the station of one. Let him receive \ _
the treatment that is due to his place, until we find him ~~
unworthy of it.” 3
“Well, well, duke,” cried the Sheriff, “ you will find it no
easy matter to make a gentleman of him. The old proverb
says ‘that it takes three generations to make a gentleman.’
There was my father, whom everybody knew; my grandfather
was an M.D., and his father a D.D.; and his father came from
England. I never could come at the truth of his origin; but
he was either a great merchant in London, or a great country
lawyer, or the youngest son of a bishop.”
“Here is a true American genealogy for you,” said
Marmaduke, laughing. “It does very well till you get across
the water, where, as everything is obscure, it is certain to deal
in the superlative. You are sure that your English progenitor
was great, Dickon, whatever his profession might have
been 2”
“To be sure I am,” returned the other. “I have heard my
old aunt talk of him bv the month. We are of a good family,
224 : THE PIONEERS.
Judge Temple, and have never filled any but honorable
stations in life.”
“T marvel that you should be satisfied with so scanty a
provision of gentility in the olden time, Dickon. Most of
the American genealogists commence their traditions, like the
stories for children, with three brothers, taking especial care
that one of the triumvirate shall be the progenitor of any of
the same name who may happen to be better furnished with
worldly gear than themselves. But, here all are equai who
know how to conduct themselves with propriety; and Oliver
Edwards comes into my family on a footing with both the High
Slaeriff and the Judge.”
“Well, ’duke, I call this democracy, not republicanism ; but
I say nothing; only let him keep within the law, or I shall show
him that the freedom of even this country is under wholesome
restraint.”
“Surely, Dickon, you will not execute till I condemn! But
what says Bess to the new inmate? We must pay a deference
to the ladies in this matter, after all.”
“Oh, sir!” returned Elizabeth, “I believe I am much like a
certain Judge Temple in this particular—not easily to be
turned from my opinion. But, to be serious, although I must
think the introduction of a demi-savage into the family a
somewhat startling event, whomsoever you think proper to
countenance may be sure of my respect.”
The Judge drew her arm more closely in his own and
smiled, while Richard led the way through the gate of the little
court-yard in the rear of the dwelling, dealing out his ambiguous
warnings with his accustomed loquacity.
On the other hand, the foresters—for the three hunters,
notwithstanding their difference in character, well deserved this
common name—pursued their course along the skirts of the
village in silence. It was not until they had reached the lake,
and were moving over its frozen surface towards the foot of
the mountain, where the hut stood, that the youth exclaimed—
“Who could have foreseen this a month since! I have
THE PIONEERS. 225
consented to serve Marmaduke Temple,—to be an inmate in
the dwelling of the greatest enemy of my race; yet what
better could Ido? 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 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.”
“TJ will submit,” said the youth; “I will forget who I am.
Cease to remember, old Mohegan, that Iam 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; [ will become his bondsman—his slave. Is it not an
honorable servitude, old man 2?”
“Old man!” repeated the Indian, solemnly, and pausing in
his walk, as usual, when much excited: “ yes; John is old.
Son of my brother! if Mohegan was young, when would his
rifle be still? Where would the deer hide, and he not find
him? But John is old; his hand is the hand of a squaw; his
tomahawk is a hatchet; brooms and baskets are his enemies—
he strikes no other. Hunger and old age come together. See,
Hawk-eye! when young, he would go days and eat nothing;
but should he not put the brush on the fire now, the blaze
would go out. Take the son of Miquon by the hand. and he
will help you.”
996 THE PIONEERS.
“T’m not the man I was, I’ll own, Chingachgook,” returned
the Leather-stocking ; “bui I can go without a meal now, on
occasion. When we tracked the Iroquois through the ‘ Beech
woods,’ they drove the game afore them, for I hadn’t a morsel
to eat from Monday morning come Wednesday sundown; and
then I shot as fat a buck, on the Pennsylvany line, as ever
mortal laid eyes on. It would have done your heart good to
have seen the Delaware eat; for I was out scouting and
skrimmaging with their tribe at the time. Lord! the Indians,
lad, lay still, and just waited till Providence should send them
their game; but I foraged about, and put a deer up, and put him
down too, afore he had made a dozen jumps. I was too weak
and too ravenous to stop for his flesh; so I took a good drink
of his blood, and the Indians ate of his meat raw. John was
there, and John knows. But then starvation would be apt to
be too much for me now, I will own, though I’m no great eater
at any time.”
“ Enough is said, my somata cried the youth. “I feel that
everywhere the sacrifice is required at my hands, and it shall
be made; but say no more, I entreat you; I cannot bear this
subject now.”
His companions were silent; and they soon reached the hut,
which they entered, after removing certain complicated and
ingenious fastenings, that were put there apparently to guard a
property of but very little value. Immense piles of snow lay
against the log walls of this secluded habitation, on one side;
while fragments of small trees, and branches of oak and
chestnut, that had been torn from their parent stems by the
winds, were thrown into a pile, on the other. A small column
of smoke rose through a chimney of sticks, cemented with clay,
along the side of the rock; and had marked the snow above
with its dark tinges, in a wavy line, from the point of emission
to 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
THE PIONEERS. 227
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 Divine fixed his eyes intently on the Indian, when he
invited his congregation to advance to the table, the shame of
last night’s abasement was yet too keen in the old chief te
suffer him to move.
‘When the people were dispersing, the clouds that had been
gathering all the morning, were dense and dirty; and before.
half of the curious congregation had reached their different
cabins, that were placed in every glen and. hollow of the
mountains, or perched on the summits of the hills themselves,
the rain was falling in torrents. The dark edges of the stumps
began to exhibit themselves, as the snow settled rapidly ; the
fences of logs and brush, which before had been only traced by
long lines of white mounds, that ran across the valley and up
the mountains, peeped out from their covering, and the black
stubs were momentarily becoming more distinct, as large masses
of snow and ice fell from their sides, under the influence of the
thaw. rin
Sheltered in the warm hall of her father’s comfortable
mansion, Elizabeth, accompanied by Louisa Grant, looked
abroad with admiration at the ever-varying face of things
without. Even the village, which had just before been
glittering with the color of the frozen element, reluctantly
dropped its mask, and the houses exposed their dark roofs
and smoked chimneys. The pines shook off the covering
of snow, and everything seemed to be assuming its proper hue,
with a transition that bordered on the supernatural.
~
228 THE PIONEERS.
CHAPTER XIX.
And yet, poor Edwin was no vulgar boy,
BEATTIE.
Tue close of Christmas day, A. D. 1793, was tempestuous,
but comparatively warm. When darkness had again hid the
objects in the village from the gaze of Elizabeth, she turned
from the window, where she had remained while the least
vestige of light lingered over the tops of the dark pines, with
a curiosity that was rather excited than appeased by the
passing glimpses of woodland scenery that she had caught
during the day.
With her arm locked in that of Miss Grant, the young
mistress of the mansion walked slowly up and down the hall,
musing on scenes that were rapidly recurring to her memory,
and possibly dwelling, at times, in the sanctuary of her
thoughts, on the strange occurrences that had led to the intro-
duction to her father’s family, of one, whose manners so
singularly contradicted the inferences to be drawn from his
situation. The expiring heat of the apartment,—for its great
size required a day to reduce its temperature,—had given to
her cheeks a bloom that exceeded their natural color, while the
mild and melancholy features of Louisa were brightened with
a faint tinge, that, like the hectic of disease, gave a painful
interest to her beauty.
The eyes of the gentlemen, who were yet seated around the
rich wines of Judge Temple, frequently wandered from the
table, that was placed at one end of the hall, to the forms that
were silently moving over its length. Much mirth, and that,
at times, of a boisterous kind, proceeded from the mouth of
THE PIONEERS. 229
Richard ; but Major Hartmann was not yet excited to his pitch
of merriment, and Marmaduke respected the presence of his
clerical guest too much, to indulge in even the innocent humor
that formed no small ingredient in his character.
Such were, and such continued to be, the pursuits of the
party, for half an hour after the shutters were closed, and
eandles were placed in various parts of the hall, as substitutes
for the departing daylight. The appearance of Benjamin,
staggering under the burden of an armful of wood, was the
first interruption to the scene.
“How now, Master Pump!” roared the newly appointed
sheriff; “is there not warmth enough in ’duke’s best Madeira
to keep up the animal heat through this thaw? Remember,
old boy, that the Judge is particular with his beech and maple,
beginning to dread already a scarcity of the precious articles.
Ha! ha! ha! ’duke, you are a good, warm-hearted relation,
I will own, as in duty bound, but you have some queer notions
about you, after all. ‘Come let us be jolly, and cast away
folly.’ ” |
The notes gradually sank into a hum, while the major-domo
threw down his load, and turning to his interrogator with an
air of earnestness, replied— q |
“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, besides good wood, or some such matter
as Newcastle coal. But, if I know anything of weather, 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 weather, Benja-
min?” inquired the master of the house.
“ There’s a shift of wind, your honor,” returned the steward ;
“and when there’s a shift of wind, you may look for a change
in this here climate. I was aboard of one of Rodney’s fleet.
230 THE PION NEERS.
d’ye see, about the time we licked De Grasse, Mounsheer 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 gunroom ingyne: and so, just
as I got it to my own liking, after tasting pretty often, for the
‘soldier was difficult to please, slap came the foresail ag’in the
mast, whiz went the ship round on her heel, like a whirlgig.
And a lucky thing was it that our helm was down; for as she
gathered starnway she paid off, which was more than every ship
in the fleet did, or could do. But she strained herself in the
trough of the sea, and she shipped a deal of water over her
quarter. J 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.”
“‘T wonder, Benjamin, that you did not die with a dropsy !”
said Marmaduke.
“T 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 telling when another sea might come and spoil it for
mine, I finished the mug on the spot. So then all hands
was called to the pumps, and there we began to ply the
9
pumps
“Well, but the weather?” interrupted Marmaduke; “ what
of the weather without doors?”
“Why, here the wind has been all day at the south, and
now there’s a lull, as if the last blast was out of the bellows ;
and there’s a streak along the mountains,-to the north’ard, that,
just now, wasn’t wider than the bigness of your hand; and
then the clouds drive afore it as you'd brail a mainsail, and the
stars are heaving in sight, like so many lights and beacons, put
there to warn us to pile on the wood; and, if-so-be that I’m a
judge of weather, it’s getting to be time to build on a fire; or
you'll have half of them there porter bottles, and them dimmy-
THE PIONEERS. 231
\
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 precautions became very visible. The
south wind had, indeed, blown itself out, and it was succeeded
by the calmness that usually gave warning of a serious change
in the weather. Long before the family retired to rest, the cold
had become cuttingly severe; and when Monsieur Le Quoi
sallied forth, under a bright moon, to seek his own abode, he
was compelled to beg a blanket, in which he might envelop his
form, in addition to the numerous garments that his sagacity
had provided for the occasion. The divine and his daughter
remained as inmates of the Mansion-house during the night,
and the excess of last night’s merriment induced the gentlemen
to make an early retreat to their several apartments. Long
before midnight, the whole family were invisible.
Elizabeth and her friend had not yet lost their senses in sleep,
when the howlings of the north-west wind were heard around the
buildings, and brought with them that exquisite sense of com-
fort that is ever excited under such circumstances, in an
apartment where. the fire has not yet ceased to glimmer; and
curtains, and shutters, and feathers, unite to preserve the desired
temperature. Once, just as her eyes had opened, apparently in
the last stage of drowsiness, the roaring winds brought with
them a long and plaintive howl, that seemed too wild for a dog,
and yet resembled the cries of that faithful animal, when night
awakens his vigilance, and gives sweetness and solemnity to 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— J
“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
232 THE PIONEERS.
the lake,” whispered Louisa, “and who are only kept from the
village by the lights. One night, since we have been here,
hunger drove them to our very door. Oh, what a dreadful
night it was! But the riches of Judge Temple have given
him too many safeguards, to leave room for fear in this
house.”
“The enterprise of Judge Temple is taming the very
forests!” exclaimed Elizabeth, ‘throwing off the covering, and
partly rising in the bed. “ How rapidly is civilization treading
on the footsteps of nature!” she continued, as her eye glanced
over, not only the comforts, but the luxuries of her apartment,
and her ear again listened to the distant, but often repeated
howls from the lake. Finding, however, that the timidity of
her companion rendered the sounds painful to her, Elizabeth
resumed her place, and soon forgot the changes in the country,
with those in her own condition, in a deep sleep.
The following morning, the noise of the female servant, who
entered the apartment to light the fire, awoke the females.
They arose, and finished the slight preparations of their toilets
in a clear, cold atmosphere, that penetrated through all the
defences of even Miss Temple’s warm room. When Elizabeth
was attired, she approached a window and drew its curtain, and
throwing open its shutters, she endeavored to look abroad on
the village and the lake. But a thick covering of frost, on the
glass, while it admitted the light, shut out. the view. She raised
the sash, and then, indeed, a glorious scene met her delighted
eye.
The lake had exchanged its covering of unspotted snow for a
face of dark ice, that reflected the rays of the rising sun, like a
polished mirror. The houses were clothed in a dress of the
same description, but which, owing to its position, shone like
bright steel ; while the enormous icicles, that were pendent from
every roof, caught the brilliant light, apparently throwing it from
one to the other, as each glittered, on the side next the luminary,
with a golden lustre, that melted away, on its opposite, into the
dusky shades of a background. But it was the appearance
THE PIONEERS. 233
of the boundless forests that covered the hills as they rose, in
the distance, one over the other, that most attracted the gaze of
Miss Temple. The huge branches of the pines and hemlocks
bent with the weight of the ice they supported, while their
summits rose above the swelling tops of the oaks, beeches, and
maples, like spires of burnished silver issuing from domes of the
same material. The limits of the view, in the west, were marked
by an undulating outline of bright light, as if, reversing the
order of nature, numberless suns might momentarily be expected
to heave above the horizon. In the foreground of the picture,
along the shores of the lake, and near to the village, each tree
seemed studded with diamonds. Even the sides of the moun-
tains 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 hem-
lock, glistening through its coat of crystal. In short, the whole
view was one scene of quivering radiancy, as lake, mountains,
village, and woods, each emitted a portion of light, tinged with -
its peculiar hue, and varied by its position and its magnitude.
“See !” cried Elizabeth—* see, Louisa: hasten to the window,
and observe the miraculous change !”
Miss Grant complied ;' and, after bending for a moment in
silence, from the opening, she observed, in a low tone, as if afraid
to trust the sound of her voice—
“The change is indeed wonderful! I am surprised that he
should be able to effect it so soon.”
Elizabeth turned in amazement, to hear so sceptical a senti-
ment from one educated like her companion ; but was surprised
to find that, instead of looking at the view, the mild blue eyes
of Miss Grant were dwelling on the form of a well-dressed young
man, who was standing before the door of the building, in earnest
conversation with her father. A second look was necessary,
before she was able to recognise the person of the young hunter,
in a plain, but assuredly, the ordinary, garb of a gentleman.
“Everything in this magical country seems to border on the
marvellous,” said Elizabeth ; “and among all the changes, this
234 THE PIONEERS.
is certainly not the least wonderful. The actors are as unique
as the scenery.”
Miss Grant colored, and drew in her head.
“Tam a simple country girl, Miss Temple, and I am afraid
you will find me but a poor companion,” she said. “I—I am
not sure that I understand all you say. But I really thought
that you wished me to notice the alteration in Mr. Edwards. Is
it not more wonderful when we recollect his origin? They say
he is part Indian.”
“ He is a genteel savage: but let us go down, and give the
Sachem his tea;—for I suppose he is a descendant of King
Philip, if not a grandson of Pocahontas.”
The ladies were met in the hall by Judge Temple, who took
his daughter aside to apprise her of that alteration in the
appearance of their new inmate, with which she was already
acquainted. :
“He appears reluctant to converse on his former situation,”
continued Marmaduke; “but I 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 Richard, as to his origin ;
for it was no unusual thing for the Indian agents to rear their
children in a laudable manner, and ”
“ Very well, my dear sir,” interrupted his ‘indies laughing
and averting her eyes ; “ it is all well enough, I dare say; but
as I do not understand a word of the Mohawk language, he
must be content to speak English; and as for his behavior, I
trust to your discernment to control it.”
“Ay! but, Bess,” 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 favor. He is, perhaps, a
little soured, just now, with his wounded arm; the injury seems
very light, and another time he may be more communicative.”
“Oh! I am not much troubled, sir, with that laudable thirst
after knowledge, that is called curiosity. I shall believe him to
be the child of Corn-stalk, or Corn-planter, or some other
renowned chieftain ; possibly of the Big Snake himself; and.
THE PIONEERS. 235
shall treat him as such until he sees fit to shave his good-looking
head, borrow some half-dozen pair of my best ear-rings, shoulder
his rifle again, and disappear as suddenly as he made his
entrance. So come, my dear sir, and let us not forget the
nites of hospitality, for the short time he is to remain with us.”
Judge Temple smiled at the playfulness of his child, and
taking her arm, they entered the breakfast parlor, where the
_ young hunter was seated, with an air that showed his determi-
nation to domesticate himself in the family with as little parade
as possible. .
_ Such were the incidents that led to this extraordinary increase
in the family of Judge Temple, where, having once established
the youth, the subject of our tale requires us to leave him, for a
time, to pursue with diligence and intelligence the employments
that were assigned him by Marmaduke.
Major Hartmann made his customary visit, and took his leave
of the party for the next three months. Mr. Grant was com-
pelled to be absent much of his time, in remote parts of the
country, and his daughter became almost a constant visitor at
the Mansion-house. Richard entered, with his constitutional
eagerness, on the duties of his new office; and, as Marmaduke
was much employed with, the constant applications of adven-
turers 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 exercise in the clear air of the hills. The reserve of the youth
gradually gave way to time and his situation, though it was
still evident, to a close observer, that he had frequent moments
of bitter and intense feeling.
Elizabeth saw many large openings appear in the sides of the
mountains during the three succeeding months, where different
settlers had, in the language of the country, “ made their pitch ;”
while the numberless sleighs that passed through the village,
ioaded with wheat and barrels of pot-ashes, afforded a clear
236 $ THE PIONEERS.
demonstration that all these labors were not undertaken in vain.
In short, the whole country was exhibiting the bustle of a
thriving settlement, where the highways were thronged with
sleighs, bearing piles of rough household furniture; studded,
here and there, with the smiling faces of women and children,
happy in the excitement of novelty; or with loads of produce,
hastening to the common market at Albany, that served as so
many snares to induce the emigrants to enter into those wild
mountains in search of competence and happiness.
The village was alive with business; the artisans increasing
in wealth with the prosperity of the country, and each day
witnessing some nearer approach to the manners and usages of
an old-settled town. ‘The man who carried the mail, or “the
post,” as he was called, talked much of running a stage, and,
once or twice during the winter, he was seen taking a single
passenger, in his cutter, through the snow-banks, towards the
Mohawk, along which a regular vehicle glided, semi-weekly,
with the velocity of lightning, and under the direction of a
knowing whip from the “down countries.” Towards spring,
divers families, who had been into the “ old states,” to see their
relatives, returned, in time to save the snow, frequently bringing
with them whole neighborhoods, who were tempted by their
representations to leave the farms of Connecticut and Massacnu-
setts, to make a trial of fortune in the woods.
During all this time, Oliver Edwards, whose sudden elevation
excited no surprise in that changeful country, was earnestly
engaged in the service of Marmaduke, during the days; but his
nights were often spent in the hut of Leather-stocking. The
intercourse between the three hunters was maintained with a
certain air of mystery, it is true, but with much zeal and
apparent interest to all the parties. Even Mohegan seldom
came to the Mansion-house, and Natty, never; but Edwards
sought every leisure moment to visit his former abode, from
which he would often return in the gloomy hours of night,
through the snow, or, if detained beyond the time at which the
family retired to rest, with the morning sun. These visits cer-
-
THE PIONEERS. 9939
tainly excited much speculation in those to whom they were
known, but no comments were made, excepting occasionally, in
whispers from Richard, who would say—
“Tt is not at all remarkable ;—a half-breed can never be
weaned from the savage ways—and for one of his lineage, the
boy is much nearer civlization than could, in reason, be
’ expected”
%38 THE PIONEERS,
CHAPTER XX.
Away ! nor let me loiter in my song,
For we have many a mountain path to tread. Byron.
As the spring gradually approached, the immense piles of —
snow, that by alternate thaws and frosts, and repeated storms,
had obtained a firmness which threatened a tiresome durability,
began to yield to the influence of milder breezes and a warmer
sun. The gates of Heaven at times seemed to open, and a
bland air diffused itself over the earth, when animate and inani-
mate nature would awaken, and, for a few hours, the gaiety 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 inter-
cepted the rays of the sun were not more cold and dreary than
the reaction. These struggles between the seasons became
daily more frequent, while the earth, lke a victim to conten-
tion, slowly lost the animated brilliancy of winter, without ob-
taining the aspect of spring.
Several weeks were consumed in this cheerless manner,
during which the inhabitants of the country gradually changed
their pursuits from the social and bustling movements of the
time of snow, to the laborious and domestic engagements of the
coming season. The village was no longer thronged with
visitors; the trade, that had enlivened the shops for several
months, began to disappear; the highways lost their shining
coats of beaten snow in impassable sloughs, and were deserted
by the gay and noisy travellers who, in sleighs, had, during the
winter, glided along their windings; and, in short, everything
. seemed indicative of a mighty change, not only in the earth, but
-_. -& =
:* i “
THE PIONEERS. 239
in those who derived their sources of comfort and happiness from
its bosom.
The younger members of the family in the Mansion-house, of
which Louisa Grant was now habitually one, were by no means
indifferent observers of these fluctuating and tardy changes.
While the snow rendered the roads passable, they had partaken
largely in the amusements of the winter, which included not
only daily rides over the mountains, and through every valley
within twenty miles of them, but divers ingenious and varied
sources of pleasure, on the bosom of their frozen lake. There
had been excursions in the equipage of Richard, when, with his
four horses, he had outstripped the winds, as it flew over the
glassy ice which invariably succeeded a thaw. Then the excit-
ing and dangerous “ whirlgig” would be suffered to possess its
moment of notice. Cutters, drawn by a single horse, and hand-
sleds, impelled by the gentlemen, on skates, would each in turn
be used ; and, in short, every source of relief against the tedi-
ousness of a winter in the mountains was resorted to by the
family. Elizabeth was compelled to acknowledge to her father,
that the season, with the aid of his library, was much less irk-
some than she had anticipated. 3
As exercise in the open air was in some degree necessary to
the habits of the family, when the constant recurrence of frosts
and thaws rendered the roads, which were dangerous at the
most favorable times, utterly impassable for wheels, saddle
horses were used as substitutes for other conveyances. Mounted
on small and sure-footed beasts, the ladies would again attempt
the passages of the mountains, and penetrate into every retired
glen, where the enterprise of a settler had induced him to esta-
rlish himself. In these excursions they were attended by some
one or all of the gentlemen of the family, as their different pur-
suits admitted. Young Edwards was hourly becoming more
familiarized to his situation, and not unfrequently mingled in
the parties with an unconcern and gaiety, that for a short time
would expel all unpleasant recollections from his mind. Habit,
and the buoyancy of youth, seemed to be getting the ascend-
240 — THE PIONEERS.
ency over the secret causes of his uneasiness ; though there
were moments, when the same remarkable expression of disgust
would cross his intercourse with Marmaduke, that had distin-
guished their conversations in the first days of their acquaint-
ance.
It was at the close of the month of March, that the Sheriff
succeeded in persuading his cousin and her young friend to
accompany him in a ride to a hill that was said to overhang
the lake in a manner peculiar to itself.
“ Besides, cousin Bess,” continued the indefatigable Richard,
“we will stop and see the ‘sugar bush’ of Billy Kirby: he is
on the east end of the Ransom lot, making sugar for Jared
Ransom. ‘There is not a better hand over a kettle in the county
than that same Kirby. You remember, ’duke, that I had him
his first season, in our own camp; and it is not a wonder that
he knows something of his trade.”
“He’s a good chopper, is Billy,” observed Benjamin, who
held the bridle of the horse while the Sheriff mounted; “and
he handles an axe much the same as a forecastle-man does his
marling-spike, or a tailor his goose. They say he'll lift a pot-
ash kettle off the arch alone, tho’ I can’t say that I’ve ever seen
him do it with my own eyes; but that is the say. And I’ve
seen sugar of his making, which, maybe, wasn’t as white as an ~
old top-gallant sail, but which my friend Mistress Prettybones,
within there, said had the true molasses smack to it; and you
are not the one, Squire Dickens, to be told that Mistress
Remarkable has a remarkable tooth for sweet things, in her nut
erinder.”
The loud laugh that succeeded the wit of Benjamin, and in
which he participated, with no very harmonious sounds, him
self, very fully illustrated the congenial temper which existed
between the pair. Most of its point was, however, lost on the
rest of the party, who were either mounting their horses or
assisting the ladies at the moment. When all were safely in
their saddles, they moved through the village in great order.
They paused for a moment before the door of Monsieur Le
THE PIONEERS. 241
Quoi, until he could bestride his steed, and then issuing from
the little cluster of houses, they took one of the principal of
those highways that centred in the village.
As each night brought with it a severe frost, which the heat
of the succeeding day served to dissipate, the equestrians were
compelled to proceed singly along the margin of the road,
where the turf, and firmness of the ground, gave the horses a
secure footing. Very trifling indications of vegetation were to
be seen, the surface of the earth presenting a cold, wet, and
cheerless aspect that chilled the blood. The snow yet lay
scattered over most of those distant clearings that were visible
in different parts of the mountains; though here and there an
opening might be seen, where, as the white covering yielded to
the season, the bright and lively green of the wheat served to
enkindle the hopes of the husbandman. Nothing could be
more marked than the contrast between the earth and the
heavens ; for, while the former presented the dreary view that
we have described, a warm and invigorating sun was dispensing
his heats from a sky that contained but a solitary cloud, and
through an atmosphere that softened the colors of the sensible
horizon until it shone like a sea of blue.
Richard led the way,'on this, as on all other occasions, that
did not require the exercise of unusual abilities; and as he
moved along, he essayed to enliven the party with the sounds
of his experienced voice.
“This is your true sugar weather, ’duke,” he cried; “a frosty
night and asunshiny 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 Temple.”
“The first object of my solicitude, friend Tene ” returned
Marmaduke, “is to protect the sources of this gréat mine of
comfort and wealth from the extravagance of the people them-
selves. When this important point shall be achieved, it will -
11
242 THE PIONEERS.
be in season to turn our attention to an improvement in the
manufacture of the article. But thou knowest, Richard, that I
have already subjected our sugar to the process of the refiner,
and that the result has produced loaves as white as the snow
on yon fields, and possessing the saccharine quality in its
utmost purity.”
“ Saccharine, or turpentine, or any other ine, Judge Temple,
you have never made a loaf larger than a good sized sugar-
plum,” returned the Sheriff. ‘“ Now, sir, I assert that no experi-
ment is fairly tried, until it be reduced to practical purposes.
If, sir, | 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 prac-
tice; and I would select a wood of young and thrifty trees; and
instead of making loaves of the size of a lump of candy, dam’me,
"duke, but I'd have them as big as a haycock.”
“And purchase the cargo of one of those ships that they
say are going to China,” cried Elizabeth; “turn your potash-
kettles into 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 magnitude that would suit your magnificent
conceptions.”
“ You may laugh, cousin Elizabeth—you may laugh, madam,”
retorted Richard, turning himself so much in his saddle as to
face the party, and making dignified gestures with his whip ;
“but I appeal to common sense, good sense, or, what is of
more importance than either, to the sense of taste, which is one
of the five natural senses, whether a big loaf of sugar is not
likely to contain a better illustration of a proposition than such
a lump as one of your Dutch women puts under her tongue
when she drinks her tea. There are two ways of doing every-
THE PIONEERS. 243
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 in the best possible loaves.”
“Thou art very right, Richard,” observed Marmaduke, with
a gravity in his air that proved how much he was interested in
the subject. “It is very true that we manufacture sugar, and
the inquiry is quite useful, how much? and in what manner }
I hope to live to see the day, when farms and plantations shall
be devoted to this branch of business. Little:is known con-
cerning the properties of the tree itself, the source of all this
wealth ; how much it may be improved by cultivation, by the
use of the hoe and plough.”
“Hoe and plough !” roared the Sheriff ;—“ would you set a
man hoeing round the root of a maple like this ?”—pointing to
one of the noble trees that occur so frequently in that part of
the country Hoeing trees! are you mad, ’duke? This is
next to hunting for coal! Poh! poh! my dear cousin, hear
reason, and leave the management of the sugar-bush to me.
Here is Mr. Le Quoi, he has been in the West Indies, and has
seen sugar made. Let him give an account of how it is made
there, and you will hear ithe philosophy of the thing.—Well,
Monsieur, how is it that you make sugar in the West Indies; —
anything in Judge Temple’s fashion ?”
The gentleman to whom this query was put was mounted on
a small horse, of no very fiery temperament, and was riding
with his stirrups so short, as to bring his knees, while the
animal rose a small ascent in the wood-path they were now
travelling, into a somewhat hazardous vicinity to his chin.
There was no room for gesticulation or grace in the delivery of
his reply, for the mountain was steep and slippery; and
although the Frenchman had an eye of uncommon magnitude
on either side of his face, they did not seem to be half compe-
tent 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
244 THE PIONEERS.
grasping’ his bridle, to check an untoward speed that his horse
was assuming, the native of France responded as follows— |
“Sucre! dey do make sucre in Martinique: mais—mais ce
n’est pas one tree ;—ah—ah—vat you call—Je voudrois que
ees chemins fussent au diable—vat you call—steeck pour le
promenade.”
“Cane,” said Elizabeth, smiling at the imprecation which
the wary Frenchman supposed was understood only by himself.
“Oui, mam’selle, cane.”
“Yes, yes,” cried Richard, “ cane is the vulgar name for it,
but the real term is saccharum officinarum ; and what we call
the sugar, or hard maple, is acer saccharinum. These are the
learned names, Monsieur, and are such as, doubtless, you well
understand.”
“Ts this Greek or Latin, Mr. Edwards ?” whispered Elizabeth
to the youth who was opening a passage for herself and her
companions through the bushes—“ or perhaps it is a still more
learned language, for an interpretation of which we must look
to you.”
The dark eye of the young man glanced towards the
speaker, but its resentful expression changed in a moment.
“T shall remember your doubts, Miss Temple, when next
. I visit my old friend Mohegan, and either his skill, or that of
Leather-stocking, shall solve them.”
“ And are you, then, really ignorant of their language ?”
“Not absolutely ; but the deep learning of Mr. Jones is more
familiar to me, or even the polite masquerade of Monsieur Le
Quoi.”
“ Do you speak French ?” said the lady, with quickness.
“Tt is acommon language with the Iroquois, and through
the Canadas,” he answered, smiling.
“Ah! but they are Mingoes, and your enemies.”
“Tt will be well for me if I have no worse,” said the youth,
dashing ahead with his horse, and putting an end to the evasive
dialogue.
The discourse, however, was maintained with great vigor by
THE PIONEERS. 2465
Richard, until they reached an open wood on the summit of the
mountain, where the hemlocks and pines totally disappeared,
and a grove of the very trees that formed the subject of debate
covered the earth with their tall, straight trunks and spreading
branches, in stately pride. The underwood had been entirely
removed from this grove, or bush, as in conjunction with the
simple arrangements for boiling, it was called, and a wide space
of many acres was cleared, which might be likened to the dome
of a mighty temple, to which the maples formed the columns,
their tops composing the capitals, and the heavens the arch.
A deep and careless incision had been made into each tree,
near its root, into which little sprouts, formed of the bark of the
alder, or of the sumach, were fastened; and a trough, roughly
dug out of the linden, or basswood, was lying at the root of
each tree, to catch the sap that flowed from this extremely
wasteful and inartificial arrangement.
The party paused a moment, on gaining the flat, to breathe
their horses, and, as the scene was entirely new to several of
their number, to view the manner of collecting the fluid. A>
fine powerful voice aroused them from their momentary silence,
as it rang under the branches of the trees, singing the following
words of that inimitable 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 rendered so glorious, that ne
American ever hears its jingling cadence without feeling a thn]
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 be full of goods, sir!
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 *
246 THE PLONEERS.
And when your stiff day’s work is donc,
Its juice will make you limber,
Then flow away, &c.
“ And what's a man without his glass,
His wife without her tea, sir ?
But neither cup nor mug will pass,
Without this honey-bee, sir!
Then flow away,” &c.
During the execution of this sonorous doggrel, Richard kept
time with his whip on the mane of his charger, accompanying
the gestures with a corresponding movement of his head and
body. ‘Towards the close of the song, he was overheard hum-
ming the chorus, and at its last repetition, to strike in at
“sweety sap,” and carry a second through, with a prodigious
addition to the “effect” of the noise, if not to that of the
harmony.
“Well done us!” roared the Sheriff, on the same key with
the tune; “a very good song, Billy Kirby, and very well sung.-
Where got you the words, lad? is there more of it, and can
you furnish me with a copy 2?”
The sugar-boiler, who was busy in his “camp,” at a short
distance from the equestrians, turned his head with great indif-
ference, and surveyed the party, as they approached, with
admirable coolness. To each individual, as he or she rode
close by him, he gave a nod that was extremely good-natured
and affable, but which partook largely of the virtue of equality,
for not even to the ladies did he in the least vary his mode of
salutation, by touching the apology for a hat that he wore, or
by any other motion than the one we have mentioned.
“ How goes it, how goes it, Sheriff?” said the wood-chopper ; 4
“what’s the good word in the village ?”
“Why, much as usual, Billy,” returned Richard. “But how
is this? where are your four kettles, and your troughs, and your
iron coolers? Do you make sugar in this slovenly way? I
thought you were one of the best sugar-boilers in the county.”
“Tm all that, Squire Jones,” said Kirby, who continued his
occupation ; “T’ll turn my back to no man in the Otsego hills,
THE PIONEERS. 247
for chopping and logging, for boiling down the maple sap, for
tending brick-kiln, splitting out rails, making potash, and parl-
ing too, or hoeing corn; though I keep myself pretty much to
the first business, seeing that the axe comes most natnral
to me.”
“You be von Jack All-trade, Mister Beel,” said Monsieur Le
Quoi.
“How ?” said Kirby, looking up, with a simplicity which,
coupled with his gigantic frame and: manly face, was a little
ridiculous, “if you be for trade, Mounshere, here is some as
good sugar as you'll find the season through. It’s as clear from
dirt as the Jarman Flats is free from stumps, and it has the raal
maple flavor. Such stuff would sell in York for candy.”
The Frenchman approached the place where Kirby had
_ deposited his cakes of sugar, under the cover of a bark roof, and
commenced the examination of the article, with the eye of one
who well understood its value. Marmaduke had dismounted,
and was viewing the works and the trees very closely, and not
without frequent expressions of dissatisfaction at the careless
manner in which the manufacture was conducted.
“You have much experience in these things, Kirby,” he said;
“what course do you pursue in making your sugar? I see
you have but two kettles.”
“Two is as good as two thousand, Judge. I’mnone of your
polite sugar-makers, that boils for the great folks; but if the
raal sweet maple is wanted, I can answer your turn. First, I
choose, and then I tap my trees; say along about the last of
February, or in these mountains may be not afore the middle
of March; but any way, just as the sap begins to cleverly
run “4
“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 know-
ing when and how much to stir the pot. It’s a thing that must
248 THE PIONEERS.
be larnt. Rome wasn’t built in a day, nor for that matter
Templetown either, though it may be said to be a quick-growing-
_ place. I never put my axe into astunty tree, or one that hasn't
a good, fresh looking bark ; for trees have disorders, like creaters;
and where’s the policy of taking a tree that’s sickly, any more
than you’d choose a foundered horse to ride post, or an over-
heated ox to do your logging.”
“ All this is true. But what are the signs of illness ? how do
you distinguish a tree that is well from one that is diseased 2”
“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 free run, I hang over the kettles, and
set up the bush. My first boiling I’ push pretty smartly, till I
get the virtue of the sap; but when it begins to grow of a
molasses nater, like this in the kettle, one mustn’t drive the fires
too hard, or you'll burn the sugar; and burny sugar is bad to
the taste, let it be never so sweet. So you ladle out from one
kettle into the other till it gets so, when you put the stirring
stick into it, that it will draw into a thread—when it takes a
kerful hand to manage it—There is a way to drain it off, after
it has grained, by putting clay into the pans; butitisn’t always
practised : some doos, and some doosn’t. Well, Mounsher, be
we likely to make a trade ?”
“TI will give you, Mister Beel, for von pound, dix sous.”
“No, I expect cash for’t: I never dicker my sugar.—But,
sceing that it’s you, Mounsher,” said Billy, with a coaxing smile,
“Tl agree to receive 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 that come out of a sugar-bush.”
“ Mr. Le Quoi has offered you ten pence,” said young Edwards,
The manufacturer stared at the speaker with an air of great
freedom, but made no reply.
THE PIONEERS. 249
“Oui,” said the Frenchman, “ten penny. Je vous remercie,
Monsieur: ah! mon Anglois! je loublie toujours.”
The wood-chopper looked from one to the other with some
displeasure ; and evidently imbibed the opinion that they were
amusing themselves at his expense. He seized the enormous
ladle, which was lying in one of his kettles, and began to stir the
boiling liquid with great diligence. After a moment passed in
dipping the ladle full, and then raising it on high, as the thick
rich fluid fell back into the kettle, he suddenly gave it a whirl,
as if to cool what yet remained, and offered the bowl to Mr. Le
Quoi, saying—
“Taste that, Mounsher, and you will say it is worth more
than you offer. The molasses itself would fetch the money.”
The complaisant Frenchman, after several timid efforts to trust
his lips in contact with the 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 recount-
ed the tale, “no drumsticks ever went faster on the skin of a
sheep, than the Frenchman’s legs, for a round or two: and then
such swearing and spitting in French you never saw. But it’s
a knowing one, from the old countries, that thinks to get his
jokes smoothly over a wood-chopper.”
The air of innocence with which Kirby resumed the occupa-
tion of stirring the contents of his kettle would have completely
deceived the spectators as to his agency in the temporary suffer-
ing of Mr. Le Quoi, had not the reckless fellow thrust his tonzue
into his cheek, and cast his eyes over the party, with a simpl'-
city of expression that was too exquisite to be natural. 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 remounting his horse, he continued in the back-
ground during the remainder of the visit, the wit of Kirby
putting a violent termination, at once, to all negotiations on the
subject of trade. During all this time, Marmaduke had been
250 THE PIONEERS.
wandering about the grove, making observations on his favorite
trees, and the wasteful manner in which the wood-chopper con-
ducted his manufacture.
“Tt grieves me to witness the extravagance that pervades
this country,” said the Judge, “ where the settlers trifle with the
blessings they might enjoy, with the prodigality of successful
adventurers. You are not exempt from the censure yourself,
Kirby, for you make dreadful wounds in these trees where a
small incision would effect the same object. I earnestly beg
you will remember, that they are the growth of centuries, and
when once gone, none living will see their loss remedied.”
“Why, I don’t know, Judge,” returned the man he addressed :
“it seems to me, if there’s a plenty of anything in this moun-
taynious country, it’s the trees. If there’s any sin in chopping
them, I’ve a pretty heavy account to settle; for I’ve chopped
over the best half of a thousand acres, with my own hands,
counting both Varmount and York states; and I hope to live
to finish the whull, before I lay up my axe. Chopping comes
quite natural to me, and I wish no other employment; but
Jared Ransom said that he thought the sugar was likely to be
scurce this season, seeing that so many folks was coming into
the settlement, and so I concluded to take the ‘bush’ on
sheares, for this one spring. What’s the best news, Judge,
consarning ashes? do pots hold so that a man can live by
them still? I s’pose they will, if they keep on fighting across
the water.”
“Thou reasonest with judgment, William,” returned Marma-
duke, “So long as the old world is to be convulsed with wars,
. 50 long will the harvest of America continue.”
“Well, it’s an ill wind, Judge, that blows nobody any good.
I’m sure the country is in a thriving way; and, though I know
you calkilate greatly on the trees, setting as much store by
them as some men would by their children, yet to my eyes
they are a sore sight 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 heard the settlers from the old countries
THE PIONEERS. 251
say that their rich men keep great oaks and elms, that would
make a barrel of pots to the tree, standing round their doors |
and humsteads, and scattered over their farms, just to look at.
Now, I call no country much improved, that is pretty well
covered with trees. Stumps are a different thing, for they don’t
shade the land; and besides, if you dig them, they make a
fence that will turn anything bigger than a hog, being grand
for breachy cattle.”
“Opinions on such subjects vary much in different countries,”
said Marmaduke ; “ but it is not as ornaments that I value the
noble trees of this country ; it is for their usefulness. We are
stripping the forests, as if a single year would replace what we
destroy. But the hour approaches when the laws will take
notice of not only the woods, but the game they contain also.”
With this consoling reflection, Marmaduke remounted, and
the equestrians passed the sugar-camp, on their way to the pro-
mised landscape of Richard. The wood-chopper was left alone,
in the bosom of the forest, to pursue his labors. Elizabeth
turned her head, when they reached the point where they were
to descend the mountain, and thought that the slow fires that
were glimmering under his enormous kettles, his little brush
shelter, covered with pieces of hemlock bark, his gigantic size,
as he wielded his ladle with a steady and knowing air, aided
by the background of stately trees, with their spouts and
troughs, formed, altogether, no unreal picture of human life in its
first stages of civilization. Perhaps whatever the scene
possessed of a romantic character was not injured by the
powerful tones of Kirby’s voice ringing through the woods, as
he again awoke his strains to another tune, which was but little
more scientific than the former. All that she understood of the
words were—
“ And when the proud forest is falling,
To my oxen cheerfully calling.
From morn until night I am bawling,
Woe, back there, and hoy and gee;
Till our labor is mutually ended
THE PIONEERS.
252
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 land,
Or the silvery pine on the dry land,
It matters but little to me ”’
THE PIONEERS.
CHAPTER XXI.
Speed! Malise, speed! such cause of haste
Thine active sinews never braced.
Scott.
Taz roads of Otsego, if we except the principal highways,
were, at the early day of our tale, but little better than wood-
paths. The high trees that were growing on the very verge of
the wheel-tracks excluded the sun’s rays, unless at meridian;
and the slowness of the evaporation, united with the rich mould
of vegetable decomposition that covered the whole country to
the depth of several inches, occasioned but an indifferent foun-
dation for the footing of travellers. Added to these were the
inequalities of a natural surface, and the constant recurrence of
enormous and slippery roots that were laid bare by the removal
of the light soil, together with stumps of trees, to make a
passage not only difficult but dangerous. Yet the riders, among
these numerous obstructions, which were such as would terrify
an unpractised eye, gave no demonstrations of uneasiness, as
their horses toiled through the sloughs, or trotted with uncer-
tain paces along the dark route. In many places, the marks on
the trees were the only indications of a road, with perhaps an
occasional remnant of a pine, that, by being cut close to the
earth, so as to leave nothing visible but its base of roots,
spreading for twenty feet in every direction, was apparently
placed there as a beacon to warn the traveller that it was the
centre of a highway.
Into one of these roads the active sheriff led the way, first
striking out of the 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 of a
252 THE PIONEERS.
=
-ormidable width were frequent. The nag of Richard, when it
reached one of these gaps, laid its nose along the logs, and
stepped across the difficult passage with the sagacity of a man;
but the blooded filly which Miss Temple rode disdained so
humble a movement. She made a step or two with an unusual
caution, and then on reaching the broadest opening, obedient
to the 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 fol-
lowing in the manner of Richard, “this is not a country for
equestrian feats. Much prudence is requisite to journey through °
our rough paths with safety. Thou mayst practise thy skill in
horsemanship on the plains of New Jersey with safety ; but in
the hills of Otsego they may be suspended for a time.”
“JT may as well then relinquish my saddle at once, dear sir,”
returned his daughter; “ for if it is to be laid aside until this
wild country be improved, old age will overtake me, and put
an end to what you term my equestrian feats.”
“Say not so, my child,” returned her father; “but if thou
venturest again, as in crossing this bridge, old age will never
overtake thee, but I shall be left to mourn thee, cut off in thy
pride, my Elizabeth. -If thou hadst seen this district of
country, as I did, when it lay in the sleep of nature, and had
witnessed its rapid changes, as it awoke to supply the wants of
man, thou wouldst curb thy impatience for a little time, though
thou shouldst not check thy steed.”
“T recollect hearing you speak of your first visit to these
woods, but the impression is faint, and blended with the con-
fused 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 enter-
prise, and what you felt ?”
During this speech of Elizabeth, which was uttered with the
fervor of affection, young Edwards rode more closely to the side
of the Judge, and bent his dark eyes on his countenance with
an expression that seemed to read his thoughts.
THE PIONEERS. 255
“ Thou wast then young, my child, but must remember when
I left thee and thy mother, to take my first survey of these unin-
habited mountains,” said Marmaduke. “ But thou dost not feel
all the secret motives that can urge a man to endure privations
in order to accumulate wealth. In my case they have not been
trifling, and God has been pleased to smile on my efforts. If I
have encountered pain, famine, and disease, in accomplishing
the settlement of this rough territory, I have not the misery of
failure to add to the grievances.”
“Famine !” echoed Elizabeth ; “I thought this was the land
of abundance! had you famine to contend with ?”
“Even so, my child,” said her father. “Those who look
around them now, and see the loads of produce that issue out
of every wild path in these mountains, during the season of tra-
velling, will hardly credit that no more than five years have
elapsed, since the tenants of these woods were compelled to eat
the scanty fruits of the forest to sustain life, and, with their
unpractised skill, to hunt the beasts as food for their starving
families.”
“ Ay !” cried Richard, who happened to overhear the last of
this speech, between the notes of the wood-chopper’s song,
which he was endeavoring to breathe aloud; “that was the
starving time,* cousin Bess. I grew as lank as a weasel that
fall, and my face was as pale as one of your fever-and-ague
visages. Monsieur Le Quoi, there, fell away like a pumpkin in
drying ; nor do I think you have got fairly over it yet, Monsieur.
Benjamin, I thought, bore it with a worse grace than any of the
* The author has no better apology for interrupting the interest of a work of
fiction by these desultory dialogues, than that they have reference to facts. In
reviewing his work, after so many years, he is compelled to confess it is injured by
too many allusions to incidents that are not at all suited to satisfy the just expecta-
tions of the general reader. One of these events is slightly touched on, in the com-
mencement of this chapter.
More than thirty years since, a very near and dear relative of the writer, an elder
sister and a second mother, was killed by a fall from a horse, in a ride among the
very mountains mentioned in this tale. Few of hersex and years were more exten-
sively known, or more universally beloved, than the admirable woman who thus
fell a victim to the chances of the wilderness.
256 THE PIONEERS.
family ; for he swore it was harder to endure than a short
allowance in the calm latitudes. Benjamin is a sad fellow to
swear, if you starve him ever so little. I had half a mind to
quit you then, "duke, and to go into Pennsylvania to fatten ; but,
damn it, thinks J, we are sisters’ children, and I will live or die
with him, after all.”
“T do not forget thy kindness,” said Marmaduke, “ nor that
we are of one blood.”
“But, my dear father,” cried the wondering Elizabeth, “ was
‘there actual suffering? where were the beautiful and fertile
vales of the Mohawk? could they not furnish food for your
wants ?”
“Tt was a season of scarcity; the necessities of life com-
manded a high price in Europe, and were greedily sought after
by the speculators. The emigrants, from the east to the west,
invariably passed along the valley of the Mohawk, and swept
away the means of subsistence, like a swarm of locusts. Nor
were the people on the Flats in a much better condition: They
were in want themselves, but they spared the little excess of
provisions that nature did not absolutely require, with the
justice of the German character. There was no grinding of the
poor. The word speculator was then unknown to them. I
have seen many a stout man, bending under the load of the
bag of meal, which he was carrying from the Mills of the
Mohawk, through the rugged passes of these mountains, to feed
his half-famished children, with a heart so light, as he
approached his hut, that the thirty miles he had passed
seemed nothing. Remember, my child, it was in our very
infancy ; we had neither mills, nor grain, nor roads, nor often
clearings; we had nothing of increase, but the mouths that
were to be fed; for, even at that inauspicious moment, the rest-
less spirit of emigration was not idle; nay, the general scarcity
which extended to the east, tended to increase the number of
adventurers.”
“ And how, dearest father, didst thou encounter this dreadful
evil ?” said Elizabeth. unconsciously adopting the dialect of her
THE PIONEERS. 957
parent in the warmth of her sympathy. “Upon thee must
have fallen the responsibility, if not the suffering.”
“Tt 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; from thence it was
transported on pack-horses into the wilderness, and distributed
among my people. . Seines were made, and the lakes and rivers
were dragged for fish. Something like a miracle was wrought
in our favor, for enormous shoals of herrings were discovered to
have wandered five hundred miles, through the windings of the
impetuous Susquehanna, and the lake was alive with their
numbers. These were at length caught, and dealt out to the
people, with proper portions of salt ; and from that moment we ~
again began to prosper.”*
“ Yes,” cried Richard, “and I was the man who served out
the fish and the salt. When the poor devils came to receive
their rations, Benjamin, who was my deputy, was obliged to
keep them off by stretching ropes around me, for they smelt so
of garlic, from eating nothing but the wild onion, that the
fumes put me out often in my measurement. You were a child
then, Bess, and knew nothing of the matter, for great care was
observed to keep both you and your mother from suffering.
That year put me back dreadfully, both in the breed of my hogs
and of my turkeys.”
“ No, Bess,” cried the Judge, in a more cheerful tone, disre-
garding the interruption of his cousin, “he who hears of the
settlement of a country knows but little of the toil and suffering
* All this was literally true.
258 THE PIONEERS.
by which it is accomplished. Unimproved and wild as this
district now seems to your eyes, what was it when I first entered
the hills! I left my party, the morning of my arrival, near the
‘farms of the Cherry Valley, and, following a deer-path, rode to
the summit of the mountain that I have since called Mount
Vision ; for the sight that there met my eyes seemed to me as ~
the deceptions of a dream. The fire had run over the pinnacle,
and, in a great measure, laid open the view. The leaves were
fallen, and I mounted a tree, and sat for an hour looking on the
silent wilderness. Not an opening was to be seen in the bound-
less forest, except where the lake lay, like a mirror of glass.
The water was covered by myriads of the wild-fowl that migrate
with the changes in the season ; and, while in my situation on
the branch of the beech, I saw a bear, with her cubs, descend to
the shore to drink. J had met many deer, gliding through the
woods, in my journey; but not the vestige of a man could I.
trace during my progress, nor from my elevated observatory.
No clearing, no hut, none of the winding roads that are now to
be seen, were there; nothing but mountains rising behind
mountains ; and the valley, with its surface of branches, enli-
vened here and there with the faded foliage of some tree, that
parted from its leaves with more than ordinary reluctance.
Even the Susquehanna was then hid, by the height and density
of the forest.”
“ And were you alone?” asked Habel “passed you the
night in that solitary state ?”
“ Not so, my child,” returned her father. “ After musing on
the scene for an hour, with a mingled feeling of pleasure and
desolation, I left my perch and descended the mountain. My
horse was left to browse on the twigs that grew within his
reach, while I explored the shores of the lake, and the spot
where Templeton stands. A pine of more than ordinary growth
stood where my dwelling is now placed! a wind-row had been
opened through the trees from thence to the lake, and my view
was but little impeded. Under the branches of that tree I
made my solitary dinner; I had just finished my repast as I
g
THE PIONEERS.) 259
saw a smoke curling from under the mountain, near the eastern
bank of the lake. . It was the only indication of the vicinity of
man that I had then seen. After much toil I made my way to
the spot, and found a rough cabin of logs, built against the foot
of a rock, and bearing the marks of a tenant, though I found no
“one within it a
“Tt was the hut of Leather-stocking,” said Edwards,
quickly.
“Tt was; though I at first supposed it to be a habitation of
the Indians. But while I was lingering around the spot, Natty
made his appearance, staggering under the carcase 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.” 3
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 asking— )
“And how did the Leather-stocking discharge the duties of a
host, sir 2”
“Why, simply but kindly, until late in the evening, when he
discovered my name and object, and the cordiality of. his man-
ner very sensibly diminished, or, I might better say, disappeared.
He considered the introduction of the settlers as an innovation »
on his rights, I believe ; for he expressed much dissatisfaction at
the measure, though it was in his confused and ambiguous
manner. I hardly understood his objections myself, but supposed
‘they referred chiefly to an interruption of the hunting.”
“ Had you then purchased the estate, or were you examining
it with an intent to buy ?” asked Edwards, a little abruptly.
“Tt had been mine for several years. It was with a view to
people the land that I visited the lake. Natty treated me
260 THE PIONEERS.
hospitably, but coldly, I thought, after he learned the nature
of my journey. I slept on his own bear-skin, however, and in
the morning joined my surveyors again.”
“Said he nothing of the Indian rights, sir? The Leather-
stocking is much given to impeach the justice of the tenure by
which the whites hold the country.”
“TI remember that he spoke of them, but I did not clearly
comprehend him, and may have forgotten what he said; for
the Indian title was extinguished so far back as the close of the
old war; and if it had not been at all, I hold under the patents
of the Royal Governors, confirmed by an act of our own State
Legislature, and no court in the country can affect my title.”
“Doubtless, sir, your title is both legal and equitable,”
returned the youth, coldly, reining his horse back, and remaining
silent till the subject was changed.
It was seldom Mr. Jones suffered any conversation to continue
for a great length of time without his participation. It seems
that he was of the party that Judge Temple had designated as
his surveyors; and he embraced the opportunity of the pause
that succeeded the retreat of young Edwards, to take up the
discourse, and with it a narration of their further proceedings,
after his own manner. As it wanted, however, the interest
that had accompanied the description of the Judge, we must
decline the task of committing his sentences to paper.
They soon reached the point where the promised view was
to be seen. It was one of those picturesque and peculiar scenes
that belong to the Otsego, but which required the absence of
the ice, and the softness of a summer’s landscape, to be enjoyed
in all its beauty. Marmaduke had early forewarned his
daughter of the season, and of its effect on the prospect; and
after casting a cursory glance at its capabilities, the party returned
homeward, perfectly satisfied that its beauties would repay them
— for the toil of a second ride, at a more propitious season.
“ The spring is the gloomy time of the American year,” said
the Judge; “and it is more peculiarly the case in these moun-
tains. The winter seems to retreat to the fastnesses of the hills,
THE PIONEERS. 261
as to the citadel of its dominion, and is only expelled after a
tedious siege, in which either party, at times, would seem to be
gaining the victory.” |
“A very just and apposite figure, Judge Temple,” observed
the Sheriff; “and the garrison under the command of Jack
Frost make formidable sorties—you understand what I mean by
sorties, Monsieur; sallies in English—and sometimes drive
General Spring and his troops back again into the low coun-
tries.”
“Yes, sair,” returned the Frenchman, whose prominent eyes
were watching the precarious footsteps of the beast he rode, as
it picked its dangerous way among the roots of trees, holes, log-
bridges, and sloughs, that formed the aggregate of the highway.
“Je vous entend ; de low countrie is freeze up for half de year.”
The error of Mr. Le Quoi was not noticed by the Sheriff;
and the rest of the party were yielding to the influence of the
changeful season, which was already teaching the equestrians
that a continuance of its mildness was not to be expected for
any length of time. Silence and thoughtfulness succeeded the
gaiety and conversation that had prevailed during the com-
mencement of the ride, as clouds began to gather about the
heavens, apparently collecting from every quarter, in quick
motion, without the agency of a breath of air.
While riding over one of the cleared eminences that occurred
in their route, the watchful eye of Judge Temple pointed out to
his daughter the approach of a tempest. Flurries of snow
already obscured the mountain that formed the northern bound-
ary 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-wesier.
All of the party were now busily engaged in making the
best of their way to the village, though the badness of the roads
frequently compelled them to check the impatience of their
animals, which often carried them over places that would not
admit of any gait faster than a walk.
Richard continued in advance, followed by Mr. Le Quoi;
962 THE PIONEERS.
next to whom rode Elizabeth, who seemed to have imbibed the
distance which pervaded the manner of young Edwards, since
the termination of the discourse between the latter and her
father. Marmaduke followed his daughter, giving her frequent
and tender warnings as to the management of her horse. It
was, possibly, the evident dependence that Louisa Grant placed
on his assistance, which induced the youth to continue by her
side, as they pursued their way through a dreary and dark
wood, where the rays of the sun could but rarely penetrate, and
where even the daylight was obscured and rendered gloomy by
the deep forests that surrounded them. No wind had yet
reached the spot where the equestrians were in motion, but
that dead stillness that often precedes a storm contributed to
render their situation more irksome than if they were already
subject to the fury of the tempest. Suddenly the voice of
young Edwards was heard shouting in those appalling tones
that carry alarm to the very soul, and which curdle the blood
of those that hear them— ;
“A tree! atree! whip—spur for your lives! a tree! a
tree !”
“ A tree! a tree!” echoed Richard, giving his horse a blow
that caused the alarmed beast to jump nearly a rod, throwing
the mud and water into the air like a hurricane.
“Von tree! von tree!” shouted the Frenchman, bending
his body on the neck of his charger, shutting his eyes, and
playing on the ribs of his beast with his heels at a rate that
caused him to be conveyed on the crupper of the Sheriff with a
marvellous speed.
Elizabeth checked her filly, and looked up with an uncon-
scious 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
father, who cried—
“ God protect my child!” and she felt herself hurried onward,
impelled by the vigor of his nervous arm.
Each one of the party bowed to his saddle-bows, as the
THE PIONEERS. 263
fearing of branches was succeeded by a sound like the rushing
of the winds, which was followed by a thundering report, and
a shock that caused the very earth to tremble, as one of the
noblest ruins of the forest fell directly across their path.
One glance was enough to assure Judge Temple that his
daughter, and those in front of him, were safe, and he turned
his eyes, in dreadful anxiety, to learn the fate of the others.
Young Edwards was on the opposite side of the tree, his form
thrown back in his saddle to its utmost distance, his left hand
drawing up his bridle with its greatest force, while the right
grasped that of Miss Grant, so as to draw the head of her horse
under its body. Both the animals stood shaking in every joint
with terror, and snorting fearfully. Louisa herself had
relinquished her reins, and with her hands pressed on her face,
sat. bending forward in her saddle, in an attitude of despair,
mingled strangely with resignation.
“Are you safe?” cried the Judge, first breaking the awful
silence of the moment.
“ By God’s blessing,” returned the youth; “ but if there had
been branches to the tree we must have been lost 4
He was interrupted by the figure of Louisa slowly yielding in
her saddle; and but for his arm she would have sunk to the
earth. Terror, however, was the only injury that the clergy-
man’s daughter had sustained, and with the aid of Elizabeth, she
was soon restored to her senses. After some little time was lost
in recovering her strength, the young lady was replaced in her
saddle, and supported on either side by Judge Temple and Mr,
Edwards, she was enabled to follow the party in their slow
progress.
“ The sudden fallings of the trees,” said Marmaduke, “ are the
most dangerous accidents in the forest, for they are not to be
foreseen, being impelled by no winds, nor any extraneous or visi-
ble cause against which we can guard.”
“The reason of their falling, Judge Temple, is very obvious,”
said the Sheriff. “The tree is old and decayed, and it is gra-
dually weakened by the frosts, until a line drawn from the centie
264 THE PIONEERS.
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 anything than a mathematical certainty. I
studied mathe
_ “Very true, Richard,” interrupted Marmaduke ; “ thy reason-
ing is true, and if my memory be not over treacherous, was
furnished by myself on a former occasion. But how is one to
guard against the danger? canst thou go through the forests,
measuring the bases, and calculating the centres of the oaks ?
answer me that, friend Jones, and I will say thou wilt do the
country a service.”
“ Answer thee that, friend Temple!” returned Richard; “a
well educated man can answer thee anything, sir. Do any trees
fall in this manner but such as are decayed? Take care not to
approach the roots of a rotten tree, and you will be safe
enough.”
“That would be excluding us entirely from the forests,” said
Marmaduke. “But, happily, the winds usually force down
most of these dangerous ruins, as their currents are admitted
into the woods by the surrounding clearings, and such a fall as
this has been is very rare.”
Louisa, by this time, had recovered so much strength as to
allow the party to proceed at a quicker pace, but long before
they were safely housed, they were overtaken by the storm ;
and when they dismounted at the door of the Mansion-house,
the black plumes of Miss Temple’s hat were drooping with the
weight of a load of damp snow, and the coats of the gentlemen _
were powdered with the same material.
While Edwards was assisting Louisa from her horse, the
warm-hearted girl caught his hand with fervor, and whispered—
“Now, Mr. Edwards, both father and daughter owe their
lives to you.”
A driving north westerly storm succeeded, and before the
sun was set every vestige of spring had vanished ; the lake, the
mountains, the village, and the fields, being again hidden under
one dazzling coat of snow.
THE PIONEERS. 265 —
CHAPTER XXII.
Men, boys, and girls,
Nesert th’ unpecpled village ; and wild crowds
Spread o’er the plain, by the sweet phrensy driven.
SOMERVILLE,
From this time to the close of April the weather continued
to be a succession of great and rapid changes. One day, the
soft airs of spring seemed to be stealing along the valley, and in
unison with an invigorating sun, attempting covertly to rouse
the dormant powers of the vegetable world; while on the next,
the surly blasts from the north would sweep across the lake,
and erase every impression left by their gentle adversaries.
The snow, however, finally disappeared, and the green wheat-
fields were seen in every direction, spotted with the dark and
charred stumps that had, the preceding season, supported some
of the proudest trees of the forest. Ploughs were in motion,
wherever those useful implements could be used, and the
smokes of the sugar-camps were no longer seen issuing from
the woods of maple. The lake had lost the beauty of a field
of ice, but still a dark and gloomy. covering concealed its
waters, for the absence of currents left them yet hidden under a
porous crust, which, saturated with the fluid, barely retained
enough strength to preserve the contiguity of its parts. Large
flocks of wild geese were seen passing over the country, which
hovered, for a time, around the hidden sheet of water, appa-
rently searching for a resting-place; and then, on finding them-
selves excluded by the chill covering, would soar away to the
north, filling the air with discordant screams, as if venting their
complaints at the tardy operations of nature.
For a week, the dark covering of the Otsego was left to the
12
266 THE PIONEERS.
undisturbed possession of two eagles, who alighted on the
centre of its field, and sat eyeing their undisputed territory.
During the presence of these monarchs of the air, the flocks of
migrating birds avoided crossing the plain of ice, by turning
into the hills, apparently seeking the protection of the forests,
while the white and bald heads of the tenants of the lake were
turned upwards, with a look of contempt. But the time had
come, when even these kings of birds were to be dispossessed.
An opening had been gradually increasing at the lower extre-
mity of the lake, and around the dark spot where the current
of the river prevented the formation of ice, during even the
coldest. weather; and the fresh southerly winds, that now
breathed freely upon the valley, made an impression on the
waters.. Mimic waves began to curl over the margin of the
frozen field, which exhibited an outline of crystallizations that
slowly receded 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 motion, when it was driven beyond the reach of
the eye, with a rapidity that was as magical as the change pro-
duced in the scene by this expulsion of the lingering remnant
of winter. Just as the last sheet of agitated ice was disap-
pearing in the distance, the eagles rose, and soared with a wide
sweep 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 were quarrelling and
chattering around the little boxes suspended above her windows,
and the cries of Richard, who was calling in tones animating as
the signs of the season itself—
“ Awake! awake! my fair lady ! the gulls are hovering over
the lake already, and the heavens are alive with pigeons. You
may look an hour before you ean find a hole through which to
get a peep at the sun. Awake! awake! lazy ones! Benjamin
is overhauling the ammunition, and we only wait for our
THE PIONEERS. 267
breakfasts, and away for the mountains and pigeon shoot-
ing.”
There was no resisting this animated appeal, and in a few
minutes Miss Temple and her friend descended to the parlor.
The doors of the hall were thrown open, and the mild, balmy
air of a clear spring morning was ventilating the apartment,
where the vigilance of the ex-steward had been so long main-
taining an artificial heat with such unremitted diligence. The
gentlemen were impatiently waiting for their morning’s repast,
each equipped in the garb of a sportsman. Mr. Jones made
many visits to the southern door, and would cry—
“See, cousin Bess! see, ’duke, the pigeon-roosts of the south
have broken up! They are growing more thick every instant.
Here is a flock that the eye cannot see the end of. There is
food enough in it to keep the army of Xerxes for a month, and
feathers enough to make beds for the whole country. Xerxes,
Mr. Edwards, was a Grecian king, who—no, he was a Turk, or
a Persian, who wanted to conquer Greece, just the same as
these rascals will overrun our wheat fields, when they come
back in the fall. Away! away! Bess; I long to pepper
them.”
In this wish both Marmaduke and young Edwards seemed
equally to participate, for the sight was exhilarating to a sports-
man; and the ladies soon dismissed the party after a hasty
breakfast.
If the heavens were alive with pigeons, the whole village
seemed equally in motion, with men, women, and children.
Every species of fire-arms, from the French ducking-gun with
a barrel near six feet in length, to the common horseman’s
pistol, was to be seen in the hands of the men and boys; while |
bows and arrows, some made of the simple stick of a walnut
sapling, and others in a rude imitation of the ancient cross-bows,
were carried by many of the latter. R
The houses and the signs of life apparent in the village,
drove the alarmed birds from the dircct line of their flight,
towards the mountains, along the sides and near the bases of
268 THE PIONEERS.
which they were glancing in dense masses, equally wonderful
by the rapidity of their motion, and their incredible numbers.
We have already said, that across the inclined plane which
fell from the steep ascent of the mountain to the banks of the
Susquehanna, ran the highway, on either side of which a
clearing of many acres had been made at a very early day.
Over those clearings, and up the eastern mountain, and along
the dangerous path that was cut into its side, the different
individuals posted themselves, and in a few moments the attack
commenced.
Among the sportsmen was the tall, gaunt form of Leather-
stocking, walking over the field, with his rifle hanging on his
arm, his dogs at his heels; the latter now scenting the dead or
wounded birds, that were beginning to tumble from the flocks,
and then crouching under the legs of their master, as if
they participated in his feelings at this wasteful and unsports-
manlike 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, shadowing the field like a cloud;
and then the light smoke of a single piece would issue ror
among the leafless bushes on the mountain, as death was hurled
on the retreat of the affrighted birds, who were rising from a
volley, in a vain effort to escape. Arrows, and missiles of every
kind, were in the midst of the flocks; and so numerous were ©
the birds, and so low did they take their flight, that even long
poles, in the hands of those on the sides of the Bese 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’ arrange-
ments for an assault of more than ordinarily fatal character.
Among the relics of the old military excursions, that occasion-
ally are discovered throughout the different districts of the
western part of New York, there had been found in Templeton,
at its settlement, a small swivel, which would carry a ball ofa
THE PIONEERS. 269
pound weight. It was thought to have been deserted by a war
party of the whites, in one of their inroads into the Indian
settlements, when, perhaps, convenience or their necessity
induced them to leave such an 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 rejoicings used in ‘those mountains. On the
mornings of the Fourths of July, it would be heard ringing
among the hills; and even Captain Hollister, who was the high-
est authority.in that: part of the country on all such occasions,
affirmed that, considering its dimensions, it was no despicable gun
for a salute. | It was somewhat the worse for the service it had
performed, it is true, there being but a trifling difference in size
between the touch-hole and the muzzle. ‘Still, the grand
conceptions of Richard had suggested the importance of such
an instrument in hurling death at his nimble enemies. The
swivel was dragged by a horse into a part of the open space
that the Sheriff thought most eligible for 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 announced that his piece was ready for service.
The sight of such an implement collected all the idle specta-
tors to the spot, who, being mostly boys, filled the air with
cries of exultation and delight. The gun was pointed high, and
Richard, holding a coal of fire in a pair of tongs, patiently
took his seat on a stump, awaiting the appearance of a flock
worthy of his notice.
_ So prodigious was the number of the birds, that the scattering
fire of the guns, with: the hurling of missiles, and the cries of
the boys, had no other effect than to break off small flocks from
the immense masses that continued to dart along the valley, as
if the whole of the feathered: tribe were pouring through that
one pass. None pretended to collect the game, which lay
scattered over the fields in such profusion as to cover the very
ground with the fluttering victims.
27U ; THE PIONEERS.
Leather-stocking was a silent, but uneasy spectator of all
these proceedings, but was able to keep his sentiments to him-
self until he saw the introduction 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 company
to a body; hurting nothing; being, as it was, as harmless as a
garter-snake. But now it gives me sore thoughts when I hear
the frighty things whizzing through the air, for I know it’s only
a motion to bring out all the brats in the village. Well! the
Lord won’t see the waste of his creatures for nothing, and right
will be done to the pigeons, as well as others, by and by.
There’s Mr. Oliver, as bad as the rest of them, firing into the
flocks, as if he was shooting down nothing but Mingo warriors.”
Among the sportsmen was Billy Kirby, who, armed with an
old musket, was loading, and without even looking into the air,
was firing and shouting as his victims fell even on his own
person. He heard the speech of Natty, and took upon himself
to reply —
“What! old Leather-stocking,” he cried, “ grumbling at the
loss of a few pigeons! If you had to sow your wheat twice,
and three times, as I have done, you wouldn’t be so massyfully
feeling towards the divils—Hurrah, boys! scatter the feathers !
This is better than shooting at a turkey’s head and neck, old
fellow.”
“It’s better for you, maybe, Billy Kirby,” replied the indig-
nant old hunter, “and all them that don’t know how to put a
ball down a mifle barrel, or‘how to bring it up again with a true
aim; but it’s wicked to be shooting into flocks in this wasty
manner ; and none do it, who know how to knock over a single
bird. If a body has a craving for pigeon’s flesh, why, it’s |
made the same as all other creatures, for man’s.eating;—-but-not—
to kill twenty and eat one. When I want such a thing I go
into the woods till I find one to my liking, and then,I shoot
him off the branches, without touching the feather of another,
THE PIONEERS. OTT
though there might be a hundred on the same tree. You
couldn’t do such a thing, Billy Kirby—you couldn’t do it, if
you tried.”
“What's that, old corn-stalk! you sapless stub!” cried the
wood-chopper. ‘“ You have grown wordy, since the affair of the
turkey; but if you are for a single shot, here goes at that bird
which comes on by himself.”
The fire from the distant part of the field had driven a single
pigeon below the flock to which it belonged, and, frightened
with the constant reports of the muskets, it was approaching the
spot where the disputants stood, darting first from one side and
then to the other, cutting the air with the swiftness of lightning,
and making a noise with its wings, not unlike the rushing of a
bullet. Unfortunately for the wood-chopper, notwithstanding |
his vaunt, he did not see this bird until it was too late to fire
as it approached, and he pulled his trigger at the unlucky
moment when it was darting immediately over his head. The
bird continued its course with the usual 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 eye, and had dropped néar 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 pro-
duced the result; it was probably a union of both; but the
pigeon whirled over in the air, and fell into the lake, with a
broken wing. At the sound of his rifle, both his dogs started
from his feet, and in a few minutes the “slut” brought out the
bird, still alive.
The wonderful exploit of Leather-stocking was noised through
the field with great rapidity, and the sportsmen gathered in, to
learn the truth of the report.
“What!” said young Edwards, “have you really killed a —
pigeon on the wing, Natty, with a single ball ?”
“Haven't I killed loons before now, lad, that dive at the
flash?” returned the hunter. “It’s much better to kill only
such as you want, without wasting your powder and lead, than
272 THE PIONEERS.
to be firing into God’s creatures in this wicked manner. But 1
came out 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 least thing wasn’t made for use, and not to destroy.”
“Thou sayest well, Leather-stocking,” cried Marmaduke,
“and I begin to think it time to put an end to this work of
destruction.”
“Put an ind, Judge, to your clearings. An’t the woods his
work as well as the pigeons? Use, but don’t waste. Wasn’t
the woods made for the beasts and ‘birds to harbor in? and
when man wanted their flesh, their skins, or their feathers
there’s the place to seek them. But I'll go to the hut with my
own game, for I wouldn’t touch one of the harmless things that
cover the ground here, looking up with their eyes on me, as if
they only wanted tongues to say their thoughts.”
With this sentiment in his mouth, Leather-stocking threw
his rifle over his arm, and followed by his dogs, stepped across
the clearing with great caution, taking care not to tread on one
of the wounded birds in his path. He soon entered the bushes
on the margin of the lake, and was hid from view.
_ Whatever impression the morality of Natty made on the
Judge, it was utterly lost on Richard. He availed himself of
the gathering of the sportsmen, to lay a plan for one “ fell
swoop” of destruction. The musket men were drawn up in
battle array, in a line extending on each side of -his artillery,
with orders to await the signal of firmg from himself.
“Stand by, my lads,” said Benjamin, who acted as an aide-
de-camp on this occasion, “stand by, my hearties, and when
Squire Dickens heaves out the signal to begin firmg, d’ye see,
you may open upon them in a broadside. Take care and fire
low, boys, and you'll be sure to hull the flock.” |
“Fire low!” shouted Kirby :—“ hear the old fool! If we
fire low, we may hit the stumps, but not ruffle a pigeon.”
“ How should you know, you lubber?” cried Benjamin, with
a very unbecoming heat for an officer on the eve of battle—
THE PIONEERS. 273
“how should you know, you grampus? Haven't I sailed
aboard of the Boadishy for five years ? and wasn’t it a standing
order to fire low, and to hull your enemy? Keep silence at
your guns, boys, and mind the order that is passed.”
The loud laughs of the musket men were silenced by the
more authoritative voice of Richard, who called for attention
and obedience to his signals.
Some millions of pigeons were supposed to have already
passed, that morning, over the valley of Templeton; but
nothing like the flock that was now approaching had been seen
before. It extended from mountain to mountain in one solid
blue mass, and the eye looked in vain, over the southern hills,
to find its termination. The front of this living column was
distinctly marked by a line but very slightly indented, so regular
and even was the flight. Even Marmaduke forgot the morality
of Leather-stocking as it approached, and, in common with the
rest, brought his musket to a poise.
“Fire !” cried the Sheriff, clapping a coal to the priming of
the cannon. As half of Benjamin’s charge escaped through the
touch-hole, the whole volley of the musketry preceded the report
of the swivel. On receiving this united discharge of small-arms,
the front of the flock darted upwards, while, at the same instant,
myriads of those in the rear rushed with amazing rapidity into
their places, so that when the column of white smoke gushed
from the mouth of the little cannon, an accumulated mass of
objects was gliding over its point of direction. The roar of the
gun echoed along the mountains, and died away to the north,
like distant thunder, while the whole flock of alarmed birds
seemed, for a moment, thrown into one disorderly and agitated
mass. The air was filled with their irregular flight, layer rising
above layer, far above the tops of the highest pines, none daring
to advance beyond the dangerous pass; when, suddenly, some
of the leaders of the feathered tribe shot across the valley,
taking their flight directly over the village, and hundreds of
thousands in their rear followed the example, deserting the
eastern side of the plain to their persecutors and the slain,
974 THE PIONEERS.
“Victory !” shouted Richard, “ ree we have driven the
enemy from the field.”
“ Not so, Dickon,” said Marmaduke: “ the field is covered
with them; and, like the Leather-stocking, I see nothing but
eyes, in every direction, as the innocent sufferers turn their
heads in terror. Full one half of those that have fallen are yet
alive; and I think it is time to end the sport, if sport it be.”
“Sport!” cried the Sheriff; “it is princely sport! There
are some thousands of the blue-coated boys on the ground, so
that every old woman in the village may have a pot-pie for the
asking.”
“Well, we have happily frightened the birds from this side
of the valley,” said Marmaduke, “and the carnage must of
necessity end, for the present. Boys, I will give you sixpence
a hundred for the pigeons’ heads only: so go to work, and
bring them into the village.”
This expedient produced the desired effect, for every urchin
on the ground went industriously to work to wring the necks
of the wounded birds. Judge Temple retired towards his
dwelling with that kind of feeling that many a man has experi-
enced before him, who discovers, after the excitement of the
moment has passed, that he has purchased pleasure at the price
of misery to others. Horses were loaded with the dead; and,
after this first burst of sporting, the shooting of pigeons became
a business, with a few idlers, for the remainder of the season.
Richard, however, boasted for many a year, of his shot with the
“cricket ;” and Benjamin gravely asserted, that he thought they
killed nearly as many pigeons on that day, as there were French-
men destroyed on the memorable occasion of Rodney’s victory.
-
THE PIONEERS. 275
CHAPTER XXIII.
Help, masters, help; here’s a fish hangs in the net, like a poor man’s right {n the
law.
PERICLES or TYRE.
Tux advance of the season now became as rapid as its first
approach had been tedious and lingering. The days were
uniformly mild, while the nights, though cool, were no longer
chilled by frosts. The whip-poor-will was heard whistling his
melancholy notes along the margin of the lake, and the ponds
and meadows were sending forth the music of their thousand
tenants. The leaf of the native poplar was seen quivering in
the woods ; the sides of the mountains began to lose their hue
of brown, as the lively green of the different members of the
forest blended their shades with the permanent colors of the
pine and hemlock; and even the buds of the tardy oak were
swelling with the promise of the coming summer. The gay and
fluttering blue-bird, the social robin, and the industrious little
wren, were all to be seen enlivening the fields with their pre-
' sence and their songs ; while the soaring fish-hawk was already
hovering over the waters of the Otsego, watching, with native
voracity, for the appearance of his prey.
The tenants of the lake were far-famed for both their quanti-
ties 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 mmost
recesses of its deepest caverns, tempting the unwary animals
with every variety of bait that the ingenuity or the art of man
had invented. But the slow, though certain adventures with
hook and line were ill suited to the profusion and impatience
of the settlers. More destructive means were resorted to; and,
276 THE PIONEERS,
as the season had now arrived when the bass-fisheries were
allowed by the provisions of the law that Judge Temple had
procured, the Sheriff declared his intention, by availing himself
of the first dark night, to enjoy the sport in person.
“ And you shall be present, cousin Bess,” he added, when he
announced this design, “and Miss Grant, and Mr. Edwards ;
and I will show you what I call fishing—not nibble, nibble,
nibble, as ’duke does when he goes after the salmon-trout.
There he will sit for hours, in a broiling sun, or, perhaps, over |
a hole in the ice, in the coldest days in winter, under the lee of
a few bushes, and not a fish will he catch, after all this mortifi-
cation of the flesh. No, no—give me a good seine that’s fifty or
sixty fathoms in length, with a jolly parcel of boatmen to crack
their jokes the while, with Benjamin to steer, and let us haul
them in by thousands; I call that fishing.”
“ Ah! Dickon,” cried Marmaduke, “ thou knowest but: little
of the pleasure there is in playing with the hook and line, or
thou wouldst be more saving of the game. I have known
thee to leave fragments enough behind thee, when thou hast
headed a night-party on the lake, to feed a dozen famishing
families.” : . {
“T shall not dispute the matter, Judge Temple: this night
will I go; and I invite the company to attend, and then let .
them decide between us.”
Richard was busy, durmg 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 throw its shadows 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 daughter,
her friend, and young Edwards, continued on the high grassy
banks at the outlet of the placid sheet of water, watching the
dark object that was moving across the lake, until it entered the
shade of the western hills, and was lost to the eye. The
THE PIONEERS. 277
distance round by land to the point of destination was a mile,
and he observed—
“Tt is time for us.to be moving: the moon will be down ere
we reach the point, and then the miraculous hauls of Dickon
will commence.”
The evening was warm, and, after the long and dreary win-
ter from which they had just escaped, delightfully invigorating.
Inspirited by the scene and their anticipated amusement, the
youthful companions of the Judge followed his steps, as he led
them along the shores of the Otsego, and through the skirts of
the village.
“See !’ said young Edwards, “they are building their fire
already ; it glimmers for a moment, and dies again like the
light of a fire-fly.”
“Now it blazes,” cried Elizabeth : “ you can perceive figures
moving around the light. Oh! I would bet my jewels against
the gold beads of Remarkable, that my impatient cousin Dickon
had an agency in raising that bright flame ;—and see ; it fades
again, like most of his brilliant schemes.” :
“Thou hast guessed the truth, Bess,” said her father; “he
has thrown an armful of brush on the pile, which has burnt out
as soon as lighted. But it has enabled them to find a better
fuel, for their fire begins to blaze with a more steady flame. It
is the true fisherman’s beacon now; observe how beautifully it
throws its little circle of light on the water !”
The appearance of the fire urged the pedestrians on, for even
the ladies had become eager to witness the miraculous draught.
By the time they reached the bank, which rose above the low
point where the fishermen had landed, the moon had sunk
behind the tops of the western pines, and, as most of the stars
were obscured by clouds, there was but little other light than
that which proceeded from the fire. At the suggestion of Mar-
maduke, his companions paused to listen to the conversation of
those below them, and examine the party for a moment before
they descended to the shore.
The whole group were seated around the fire, with the excep-
?
278 ; THE PIONEERS,
tion of Richard and Benjamin; the former of whom occupied
the root of a decayed stump, that had been drawn to the spot
as part of their fuel, and the latter was standing, with his arms
a-kimbo, so near to the flame, that the smoke occasionally
obscured his solemn visage, as it waved around the pile, in obe
dience to the night airs that swept gently over the water.
“Why, look you, Squire,” said the major-domo, “ you may
call a lake-fish that will weigh twenty or thirty pounds a serious
matter; but to a man who has hauled in a shovel-nosed shirk,
d’ye see, it’s but a poor kind of fishing after all.”
“T don’t know, Benjamin,” returned the Sheriff: “a haul of
one thousand Otsego bass, without counting pike, pickerel,
perch, bull-pouts, Salmon-trouts, and suckers, is no bad fishing,
let me tell you. There may 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 listen to the philo-
sophy 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 everybody knows, that is, every-
body that has followed the seas, whales and grampuses are to
be seen, that are as long as one of the pine trees on yonder
mountain ?”
“ Softly, softly, Benjamin,” said the Sheriff, as if he wished to
save the credit of his favorite; “why some of the pines will
measure two hundred feet, and even more.”
“Two hundred or two thousand, it’s all the same thing,”
cried Benjamin, with an air which manifested that he was not
easily to be bullied out of his opinion, on a subject like the pre-
sent. “ Haven’t I been there, and haven’t I seen? I have said
that you fall in with whales as long as one of them there pines;
and what I have once said I'll stand to !”
During this dialogue, which was evidently but the close of 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
THE PIONEERS. 279
with splinters of the chips near him, and occasionally shaking
his head with distrust of Benjamin’s assertions.
“T’ve a notion,” said the wood-chopper, “that there’s water in
this lake to swim the biggest whale that ever was invented ; and,
as to the pines, I think I ought to know so’thing consarning
them; I have chopped many a one that was sixty times the
length of my helve, without counting the eye: and I believe,
Benny, that if the old pine that stands in the hollow of the
Vision Mountain, just over the village—you may see the tree
itself by looking up, for the moon is on its top yet :—well, now
I believe, if that same tree was planted out in the deepest part
of the lake, there would be water enough for the biggest ship
that ever was built to float over it, without touching its upper
branches, I do.” |
“ Did’ee ever see a ship, Master Kirby ?” roared the steward
—“did’ee ever see a ship, man? or any craft bigger than a
lime-scow, or a wood-boat, on this here small bit of fresh
water 2”
“ Yes, I have,” said the wood-chopper, stoutly ; “I can say
that I have, and tell no he.”
“ 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 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 a full
rigged, regular built, decked vessel 2”
The whole company were a good deal astounded with this —
overwhelming question, and even Richard afterwards remarked,
that it “ was a thousand pities that Benjamin could not read, or
he must have made a valuable officer to the British marine. It
is no wonder that they overcame the French so easily on the
water, when even the lowest sailor so well understood the dif-
ferent 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
280 THE PIONEERS.
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 Cham-
plain. 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 ve been
at the chopping of many a one in Varmount state. I wish I
was captain in one of them, and you was in that Board-dish that
you talk so much about ; and we'd soon see what good Yankee
stuff is made on, and whether a Varmounter’s hide 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 tne noise that issued
from their shades, to be full of mocking demons. |
“Let us descend to the shore,” whispered Marmaduke, “ or
there will soon be ill-blood between them. Benjamin is a fear-
less boaster ; and Kirby, though good-natured, is a careless son
of the forest, who thinks one American more than a match for
six Englishmen. I marvel that Dickon is silent, where there is
such a trial of skill in the superlative !”
The appearance of Judge Temple and the ladies produced, if
not a pacification, at least a cessation of hostilities. Obedient to
the directions of Mr. Jones, the fishermen prepared to launch
their boat, which had been seen in the background of the view,
with the net carefully disposed on a little platform in its stern,
ready for service. Richard gave vent to his reproaches at the
tardiness of the pedestrians, when all the turbulent passions of
the party were succeeded by a calm, as mild and as placid as
that which prevailed over the beautiful sheet of water that they
_ were about to rifle of its best treasures.
The night had now become so dark as to render siejects,
without the reach of the light of the fire, not only indistinct, but
in most cases invisible. For a little distance the water was dis
cernible, glistening, as the glare from the fire danced over its
ee
THE PIONEERS. | 281
surface, touching it here and there with red quivering streaks °
but at a hundred feet from the shore, there lay a boundary of
impenetrable gloom. One or two stars were shining through
the openings of the clouds, and the lights were seen in the
village, glimmering faintly, as if at an immeasurable distance.
At times as the fire lowered, or as the horizon cleared, the out-
line of the mountain, on the other side of the lake, might be
traced by its undulations; but its shadow was cast, wide and
dense, on the bosom of the water, rendering the darkness in
that direction trebly deep.
Benjamin Pump was invariably the 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 oars. ‘The remainder of
- the assistants were stationed at the drag ropes. The arrange
ments were speedily made, and Richard gave the signal te
“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 dis-
appeared in the darkness, when the ear was her only guide to
its evolutions. There was great affectation of stillness during
all these manceuvres, in order, as Richard assured them, “not to
frighten the bass, who were running into the shoal waters, and
who would approach the light if not disturbed by the sounds
from the fishermen.”
The hoarse voice of Benjamin was alone heard issuing out of
the gloom, as he uttered, in authoritative tones, “ pull larboard
oar,” “pull starboard,” “give way together, boys,” and such
other dictative mandates as were necessary for the right dispo-
sition of his seine. A long time was passed in this necessary
part of the process, for Benjamin prided himself greatly on his
skill in throwing the net, and, in fact, most of the success of the
sport depended on its being done with judgment. At length a
loud splash in the water, as he threw away the “staff,” or
“stretcher,” with a hoarse call from the steward, of “ clear,”
announced that the boat was returning ; when Richard seized a
282 THE PIONEERS.
brand from the fire, and ran to a point, as far above the centre
of the fishing ground, as the one from which the batteau had
started was below it.
“Stick her in dead for the Squire, boys,” said the steward,
“and we'll have a look at what grows in this here pond.”
In place of the falling net were now to be heard the quick
strokes of the oars, and the noise of the rope running out of the
boat. Presently the batteau shot into the circle of light, and in
an instant she was pulled to shore. Several eager hands were
extended to receive the line, and both ropes being equally well
manned, the fishermen commenced hauling in with slow and
steady drags, Richard standing in the centre, giving orders, first
to one party, and then to the other, to increase or slacken their
efforts, as occasion required. The visitors were posted near him,
and enjoyed a fair view of the whole operation, which was
slowly advancing to an end.
Opinions as to the result of their adventure were now freely
hazarded by all the men, some declaring that the net came in
as light as a feather, and others affirming that it seemed to be
full of logs. As the ropes were many hundred feet in length,
these opposing sentiments were thought to be of little moment
by the Sheriff, who would go first to one line and then to the
other, giving each 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 the net clear. J can move it
with my little finger. The rope slackens in my hand.”
“ Did you ever see a whale, Squire ?” responded the steward :
“T say that if that there net is foul, the devil isin 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
hefore him, standing with his feet in the water, at an angle of
forty-five degrees, inclining 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,
THE PIONEERS. — 983
“T see the ‘staffs,’ ” shouted Mr. Jones ;—“ gather in, boys,
and away with it; to shore with her !—to shore with her !”
At this cheerful sound, Elizabeth strained her eyes and saw
the ends of the two sticks on the seine emerging from the dark-
ness, while the men closed near to each other, and formed a
deep bag of their net. The exertions of the fishermen sensibly
increased, and ‘the voice of Richard was heard encouraging them
to make their greatest efforts at the present moment.
“Now’s the time, my lads,” he cried; “let us get the ends
to land, and all we have will be our own—away with her !”
“ Away with her, it is,” echoed Benjamin !—“ hurrah ! ho-a-
hoy, ho-a-hoy, ho-a !”
“In with her,” shouted Kirby, exerting himself in a manner
that left nothing for those in his rear to do, but to gather up
the slack of the rope which passed through his hands.
“ Staff, ho !” shouted the steward.
“ Staff, ho !” echoed Kirby, from the other rope.
The men rushed to the water’s edge, some seizing the upper
rope, and some the lower, or lead-rope, and began to haul with
great activity and zeal. A deep semicircular sweep of the little
balls that supported the seine in its perpendicular position, was
plainly visible to the spectators, and, as it rapidly lessened in
size, the bag of the net appeared, while an occasional flutter
on the water announced the uneasiness of the prisoners it
contained. j
“ Haul in, my lads,” shouted Richard—“I can see the dogs
kicking to get free. Haul in, and here’s a cast that will pay for
the labor.”
Fishes of various sorts were now to be seen, entangled in the
meshes of the net, as it was passed through the hands of the
laborers ; and the water, at a little distance from the shore, was
alive with the movements of the alarmed victims. Hundreds
of white sides were glancing up to the surface of the water,
and glistening in the fire-light, when, frightened at the uproar
and the change, the fish would again dart to the bottom, in
fruitless efforts for freedom.
284 THE PIONEERS.
“Hurrah!” shouted Richard; “one or two more heavy
drags, boys, and we are safe.” Pee E
“ Cheerily, boys, cheerily!” cried Benjamin; “I see a sal-
mon-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 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-chopper rushed to his middle
into the water, and began to drive the reluctant animals before
him from their native element.
“Pull heartily, boys,” cried. Marmaduke, yielding to the
excitement of the moment, and laying his hands to the net,
with no trifling addition to.the force. Edwards had preceded
him ; for the sight of the immense piles of fish, that were slowly
rolling over on the gravelly beach, had impelled him also to
leave the ladies, and join the fishermen.
Great care was observed in bringing the net to land, and,
after much toil, the whole shoal of victims was safely deposited in
a hollow of the bank, where they were left to flutter away their
brief existence in the new and fatal element.
Even Elizabeth and Louisa were greatly excited and highly
gratified by seeing two thousand captives thus drawn from the
bosom of the lake, and laid prisoners at their feet. But when
the feelings of the moment were passing away, Marmaduke
took in his hands a bass, that might have weighed two pounds,
and after viewing it a moment, in melancholy musing, he turned
to his daughter, and observed—
“ This is a fearful expenditure of the choicest gifts of Providence.
These fish, Bess, which thou seest lying in such piles before
thee, and which by to-morrow evening will be rejected food on
the meanest table in Templeton, are of a quality and flavor that,
in other countries, would make them esteemed a luxury on the
tables of princes or epicures. The world has no better fish than
THE PIONEERS. 285
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 excuse for destroying animals in this
manner, it is in taking the bass.. During the winter, you
know, they are entirely protected from our assaults by the ice,
for they refuse the hook ; and during the hot months they are
not seen. It is supposed they retreat to the deep and cool
waters of the lake, at that season; and it is only in the spring
and autumn, that, for a few days, they are to be found around
the points where they are within the reach of a seine. But,
like all the other treasures of the wilderness, they already begin
to disappear before the wasteful extravagance of man.”
“ Disappear, duke! disappear!” exclaimed the Sheriff; “if
you don’t call this appearing, I know not what you will. Here
are a good thousand of the shiners, some hundreds of suckers,
and a powerful quantity of other fry. Lut 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
* Of all the fish the writer has ever tasted, he thinks the one in question the best.
286 THE PIONEERS.
sarve them a good turn, seeing that the Lon’oners mainly burn
coal.”
“Now we are on the subject of coal, Judge Temple,” inter-
rupted 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 intend riding into the eastern part of the Patent,
and I will accompany you, and conduct you to a spot where
some of your projects may be realized. We will say no more
now, for there are listeners; but a secret has this evening been
revealed to me, ’duke, that is of more consequence to your
welfare than all your estate united.”
Marmaduke laughed at the important intelligence, to which
in a variety of shapes he was accustomed, and the Sheriff, with
an air of great dignity, as if pitying his want of faith proceeded
in the business more immediately before them. As the labor
of drawing the net had been very great, he directed one party
of his men to commence throwing the fish into piles, preparatory
to the usual division, while another, under the superintendence
of Benjamin, prepared the seine for a second haul.
.s
THE PIONEERS, 287
CHAPTER XXIV.
~
While from its margin, terrible to tell!
Three sailors with their gallant boatswain’ fell. FALCONER.
Wuite the fishermen were employed in making the prepa-
rations for an equitable division of the spoil, Elizabeth and her
friend strolled a short distance from the group, along the shore
of the lake. After reaching a point, to which even the brightest
of the occasional gleams of the fire did not extend, they turned,
and paused a moment, in contemplation of the busy and lively
party they had left, and of the obscurity, which, like the gloom
of oblivion, seemed to envelope the rest of the creation.
“This is indeed a subject for the pencil !” exclaimed Eliza-
beth. “Observe the countenance of that wood-chopper, while
he exults in presenting 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, where he stands
viewing the havoc of the game. He seems melancholy, as if he
actually thought that a day of retribution was to follow this
hour of abundance and prodigality! Would they not make a
picture, Louisa ?”
“ You know that I am ignorant of all such accomplishments,
Miss Temple.”
“Call me by my Christian name,” interrupted Elizabeth ;
“this is not a place, neither is this a scene, for forms.”
“Well, then, if I may venture an opinion,” said Louisa, -
timidiy, * I should think it might indeed make a picture. The
selfish earnestness of that Karby 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.”
288 THE PIONEERS,
“You do me too much credit, Miss Grant,” said the oo ;
“T am no diviner of thoughts, or interpreter of expressions.” ;
There was certainly nothing harsh, or even cold, in the
manner of the speaker, but still it repressed the conversation,
and they continued to stroll still further from the party, retain-
ing each other’s arm, but observing a profound silence. Eliza-
beth, perhaps, conscious of the improper phraseology of her last
speech, or perhaps excited by the new object that met her gaze,
was the first to break the awkward cessation in the discourse, by
exclaiming—
“ Look, Louisa! we are not alone; there are fishermen light-
ing a fire on the other side of the lake, immediately opposite
to us; it must be in front of the cabin of Leather-stocking !”
Through the obscurity, which prevailed most immediately
under the eastern mountain, a small and uncertain light was
plainly to be seen, though, as it was occasionally lost to the eye,
it seemed struggling for existence. They observed it to move,
and sensibly to lower, as 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 ball of fire.
Such an object, lighted as it were by magic, under the brow
of the mountain, and in that retired and unfrequented place,
gave double interest to the beauty and singularity of its appear-
-ance. It did not at all resemble the large and unsteady light
of their own fire, being much more clear and bright, and retain-
ing its size and shape with perfect uniformity.
“There are moments when the best regulated minds are more
or less subjected to the injurious impressions which few haye
escaped in infancy ; and Elizabeth smiled at her own weakness,
while she remembered the idle tales which were circulated
through the village, at the expense ‘of the Leather-stocking.
The same ideas seized her companion, and at the same instant,
for Louisa pressed nearer to her friend, as she said in a low
voice, stealing a timid glance towards the bushes and trees
that overhung the bank near them:
THE PIONEERS. 289
“Did you ever hear the singular ways of this Natty
spoken of, Miss Temple? They say that, in his youth, he was
an Indian warrior; or, what is the same thing, a white man
leagued with the savages; and it is thought he has been con-
cerned in many of their inroads, in the old wars.”
“The thing is not at all improbable,” returned Elizabeth ;
“he is not alone in that particular.”
“No, surely ; but is it not strange that he is so cautious with
his hut? He never leaves it, without fastening it in a remarka-
ble manner; and _in several instances, when the children, or even
the men of the village, have wished to seek a shelter there from
the storms, he has been known to drive them from his door
with rudeness and threats. That, surely, is singular in this
country !”
“Tt is certainly not very hospitable; but we must remember
his aversion to the customs of civilized life. You heard my
father say, a few days since, how kindly he was treated by him
on his first visit to this place.” Elizabeth paused, and smiled,
with an expression of peculiar archness, though the darkness hid
its meaning from her companion, as she continued—“ Besides,
he certainly admits the visits of Mr. Edwards, whom we both
know to be far from a savage.”
‘lo this speech Louisa made no reply; but continued gazing
on the object which had elicited her remarks. In addition to
the bright and circular flame, was now to be seen a fainter,
though a vivid light, of an equal diameter to the other at the
upper end; but which, after extending downwards for many feet,
gradually tapered to a point at its lower extremity. A dark
space was plainly visible between the two; and the new illumi-
nation was placed beneath the other; the whole forming an
appearance not unlike an inverted note of admiration. It was
soon evident that the latter was nothing but the reflection,
from the water, of the former; and that the object, whatever it
might be, was advancing across, or rather over, the lake, for 3
seemed to be several feet above its surface, in a direct line with
themselves. Its motion was amazingly rapid, the ladies having
13
290 THE PIONEERS.
hardly discovered that it was moving at all, before the waving
light of a flame was discerned, losing its regular shape, while
it increased in size, as it approached.
“Tt appears to be supernatural !” whispered Louisa, begin-
ning to retrace her steps towards the party.
“Tt is beautiful !” exclaimed Elizabeth.
A brilliant, though waving flame, was now plainly visible,
gracefully gliding over the lake, and throwing its light on the
water in such a manner as to tinge it slightly ; though in the
air, so strong was the contrast, the darkness seemed to have the
distinctness of material substances, as if the fire were imbedded
in a setting of ebony. This appearance, however, gradually
wore off; and the rays from the torch struck out, and enlight-
ened the atmosphere in front of it, leaving the background in a
darkness that was more impenetrable than ever.
“Ho! Natty, is that you?” shouted the Sheriff. “ Paddle in,
old boy, and es give you a mess of fish that is fit to te before
the Governor.”
The light suddenly changed its direction, and a long and
slightly-built boat hove up out of the gloom, while the red glare
fell on the weather-beaten features of the Leather-stocking,
whose tall person was seen erect in the frail vessel, wielding,
with the grace of an experienced boatman, a long fishing-spear,
which he held by its centre, first dropping one end and then the
other into the water, to aid in propelling the little canoe of
bark, we will not say through, but over, the water. At the fur-
ther end of the vessel a form was faintly seen, guiding its
motions, and using a paddle with the ease of one who felt there
was no necessity for exertion. The Leather-stocking struck his
spear lightly against the short staff which upheld, on a rude
grating framed of old hoops of iron, the knots of pine that com-
posed the fuel, and the light, which glared high, for an instant
fell on the swarthy features, and dark, glancing eyes of Mohe-
gan.
The boat glided along the shore until it arrived opposite the
fishing-ground, when it again changed its direction, and moved
THE PIONEERS. 291
on to the land, with a motion so graceful, and yet so rapid, that
it seemed to possess the power of regulating its own progress.
The water in front of the canoe was hardly ruffled by its
passage, and no sound betrayed the collision, when the light
fabric shot on the gravelly beach for nearly half its length,
Natty receding a step or two from its bow, in order to facilitate
the landing. |
“ Approach, Mohegan,” said Marmaduke; “approach, Lea-
ther-stocking, and load your canoe with bass. It would be a
shame to assail the animals with the spear, when such multi-
tudes 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. Istrike my spear into the eels or the trout, when I crave
the creaters ; but I wouldn’t be helping to such a sinful kind of
fishing for the best rifle that was ever brought out from the old
countries. Ifthey had fur, like a beaver, or you could tan their
hides, like a buck, something might be said in favor 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: for once, old hunter, we agree in
opinion; and I heartily wish we could make a convert of the
Sheriff. A net of half the size of this would supply the whole
village with fish for a week at one haul.”
The Leather-stocking did not relish this alliance in senti-
ment; 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 reason,
I always use a single ball, even if it be at a bird or a squirrel.
Besides, it saves lead; for, when a body knows how to shoot,
one piece of lead is enough for all, except hard-lived animals,”
292 THE PIONEERS.
The Sheriff heard these opinions with great indignation ; and
when he completed the last arrangement for the division, by
carrying, with his own hands, a trout of a large size, and placing
it on four different piles in succession, as his vacillating ideas of
justice required, he gave vent to his spleen.
“A very pretty confederacy, indeed! Judge Temple, the
landlord and owner of a township, with Nathaniel Bumppo, a
lawless squatter, and professed deer-killer, in order to preserve
the game of the county! But, ’duke, when I fish I fish; s0,
away, boys, for another haul, and we'll send out wagons and
carts in the morning, to bring in our prizes.”
Marmaduke appeared to understand that all opposition to the
will of the Sheriff would be useless ; and he strolled from the
fire to the place where the canoe of the hunters lay, whither the
ladies and Oliver Edwards had already preceded him.
Curiosity induced the females to approach this spot; but it
was a different motive that led the youth thither. Elizabeth
examined the light ashen timbers and thin bark covering of the
canoe, in admiration of its neat but simple execution, and with
wonder that any human being could be so daring as to trust his
life in so frail a vessel. But the youth explained to her the
buoyant properties of the boat, and its perfect safety when
under proper management; adding, in such glowing terms, a
description of the manner in which the fish were struck with the
spear, that she changed suddenly, from an apprehension of the
danger of the excursion, to a desire to participate in its pleasures.
She even ventured a proposition to that effect to her father,
laughing at the same time at her own wish, and accusing herself
of acting under a woman’s caprice.
“Say not so, Bess,” returned the Judge: “I would have you
above the idle fears of a silly girl. These canoes are the safest
kind of boats to those who have skill and steady nerves. I have
crossed the broadest part of the Oneida in one much smaller than
this.”
“And I the Ontary,” interrupted the Leather-stocking ; “and
that with squaws in the canoe, too. But the Delaware women
THE PIONEERS. 293
are used to the paddle, and are good hands in a boat of this
nater. If the young lady would like to see an old man strike a
trout for his breakfast, she is welcome to a seat. John will say
the same, seeing that he built the canoe, which was only launched
yesterday ; for ’m not over curous at such small work as brooms,
and basket making, and other like Indian trades.”
Natty gave Elizabeth one of his significant laughs, with a
kind nod of the head, when he concluded his invitation: but
Mohegan, with the native grace of an Indian, approached, and
taking her soft white hand into his own swarthy and wrinkled
palm, said—
“Come, 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.”
“Mr. Edwards,” said Elizabeth, blushing slightly, “ your friend
Mohegan has given a promise for you. Do you redeem the
pledge %” |
“ With my life, if necessary, Miss Temple,” cried the youth,
with fervor. “The sight is worth some little apprehension ; for
of real danger there isnone. I will go with youand 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.”
“Tt shall hold a fourth,” cried the young man, springing to
her side, with a violence that nearly shook the weak fabric otf
the vessel asunder. ‘“ Pardon me, Miss Temple, that I do not
permit these venerable Charons to take you to the shades unat-
tended by your genius.”
“Ts it a good or evil spirit ?” asked Elizabeth.
“Good to you.”
/
294 THE PIONEERS.
“ And mine,” added the mador 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 pro-
found silence was preserved by the whole party, as a precaution
necessary to the success of their fishery. At that point of the
lake, the water shoaled regularly, differing in this particular,
altogether, from those parts where the mountains rose, nearly in
perpendicular precipices, from the beach. There, the largest
vessels could have lain, with their yards interlocked with the
pines; while here a scanty growth of rushes lifted their tops
above the lake, gently curling the waters, as their bending heads
waved with the passing breath of the night air. It was at the
- shallow points, only, that the bass could be found, or the net
cast with success.
Elizabeth saw thousands of these fish swimming in shoals
along the shallow and warm waters of the shore ; for the flaring
light of their torch laid bare the mysteries of the lake, as plainly
as if the limpid sheet of the Otsego was but another atmo-
sphere. Every instant she expected to see the impending spear
of Leather-stocking darting into the thronging hosts that were
rushing beneath her, where it would seem that a blow could not
go amiss; and where, as her father had already said, the prize
that would be obtained was worthy any epicure. But Natty
had his peculiar habits, and, it would seem, his peculiar tastes
also. His tall stature, and his erect posture, enabled him to see
much further than those who were seated in the bottom cf the
canoe; and he turned his head warily in every direction, fre-
quently bending his body forward, and straining his vision, as
if desirous of penetrating the water that surrounded their boun-
dary of light. At length his anxious scrutiny was rewarded
THE PIONEERS. 295
with success, and, waving his spear from the shore, he said in a
cautious tone—
“Send her outside the bass, John; I see a laker there, that
has run out of the school. It’s seldom one finds such a creater
in shallow water, where a spear can touch it.”
Mohegan gave a wave of assent with his hand, and in the
next instant the canoe was without the “run of the bass,” and
in water nearly twenty feet in depth. A few additional knots
were laid on the grating, and the light penetrated to the
bottom. Elizabeth then saw a fish of unusual size floating
above small pieces of logs and sticks. The animal was only
distinguishable, at that distance, by a slight, but almost im
perceptible motion of its fins and tail. The curiosity excited by
this unusual exposure of the secrets of the lake seemed to be
mutual between the heiress of the land and the lord of these
waters, for the “salmon-trout” soon announced his interest by
raising his head and body for a few degrees above a horizontal
line, and then dropping them again into a horizontal position. |
“ Whist ! whist!” said Natty, in a low voice, on hearing a
slight sound made by Elizabeth in bending over the side of the
canoe in curiosity ;—“ ’tis a skeary animal, and it’s a far stroke
for a spear. My handle, is but fourteen foot, and the creater
lies a good eighteen from the top of the water; but I'll try him,
for he’s a ten-pounder.”
While speaking, the Leather-stocking was poising and direct-
ing his weapon. Elizabeth saw the bright, polished tines, as
they slowly and silently entered the water, where the refraction
pointed them many degrees from the true direction of the fish ;
and she thought that the intended victim saw them also, as he
seemed to increase the play of his tail and fins, though without
moving his station. At the next instant the tall body of Natty
bent to the water’s edge, and the handle of his spear 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 into the air by its own reaction, and its master
296 : THE PIONEERS.
catching it in his hand, threw its tines uppermost, that Eliza
beth was acquainted with the success of the blow. “If a beast, it is a bold one; and if a man, an
impudent.”
He sprang through the top of a pine that had fallen near
the side of the hut, and ascended a small hillock that sheltered
the cabin to the south, where he caught a glimpse of the formal
figure of Hiram Doolittle, as it vanished with unusual rapidity
for the architect, amid the bushes.
“What can that fellow be wanting here?” muttered Oliver.
“He has no business in this quarter, unless it be curiosity,
which is an endemic in these woods. But against that I will
effectually guard, though the dogs should take a liking to his
ugly visage, and let him pass.” The youth returned to the
door, while giving vent to this soliloquy, and completed the
fastenings, by placing a small chain through a staple, and
securing it there by a padlock. “He is a pettifogger, and
818 THE PIONEERS.
surely must know that there is sis ate a thing as feloniously
breaking into a man’s house.”
Apparently well satisfied with this arrangement, the youth
again spoke to the hounds; and, descending to the shore, he
aidohed his boat, and taking up his oars, pale off into
the lake. ©
There were several places in the Otsego that were celdbrated
fishing-ground for perch. One was nearly opposite to the
cabin, and another, still more famous, was near a point, at the
distance of a mile and a half above it, under the brow of the
mountain, and on the same side of the lake with the hut.
Oliver Edwards pulled his little skiff to the first, and sat, for a
minute, undecided whether to continue there, with his eyes on
the door of the cabin, or to change his ground, with a view to
get superior game. While gazing about him, he saw the light-
colored bark'canoe of his old companions, riding on the water,
at thé point we have mentioned, and ‘containing two figures,
that he at once knew to-be Mohegan and the Leather-stocking.
This decided the matter, and the youth pulled, in a very few
minutes, to the place where his friends were fishing, Si
fastened his boat to the light vessel of the Indian.
The old men received Oliver with welcoming nods, but
neither drew his line from the water, nor in the least varied his |
occupation. When Edwards had secured his own boat, he
baited his hook and threw it into the lake, without speaking.
“Did you stop at the wigwam, lad, as you tows past ? ”
asked Natty.
“Yes, and I found all safe; but that carpenter and Salida of
the peace, Mr., or as they “gall him, Squire, Doolittle, was
prowling een the woods. I made sure of the door before I
left the hut, and I think he is too great a ape to approach
the hounds.”
“There’s little to be said in favor of that man,” “eft 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
THE PIONEERS. 319
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 called on to intarpret them.”
“J fear he is more knave than fool,” cried Edwards; “he
makes a tool of that simple man, the Sheriff; and I dread that
his impertinent curiosity may yet give us much trouble.”
“Tf he harbors too much about the cabin, lad, Pll shoot the
creater,” said the Leather-stocking, quite simply.
“No, no, Natty, you must remember the law,” said Edwards,
* or we shall have you in trouble; and that, old man, would be
an evil day, and sore tidings to us all.”
“ Would it, boy!” exclaimed the hunter, raising his eyes with
a look of friendly interest, 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? Dol speak the true word? Is the lad staunch, and
of the right blood 2”
“ He is a Delaware,” said Mohegan, “and my brother. The
ycung Eagle is brave, and he will be a chief. No harm can
come.”
“Well, well,” cried the youth, impatiently, “say no more
about it, my good friends; if I am not all that your partiality
would make me, I am yours through life, in prosperity as in
poverty. We will talk of other matters.”
The old hunters yielded to his wish, which seemed to be their
law. For a short time a profound silence prevailed, during
which each man was very busy with his hook and line; but
Edwards, probably feeling that it remained with him to renew
the discourse, soon observed, with the air of one who knew not
what he said— .
“ How beautifully tranquil and glassy the lake is! Saw you
it ever more calm and even than at this moment, Natty 2”
“T have known the Otsego water for five and forty years,”
said Leather-stocking ; “and I will say that for it, which is, that
a cleaner spring or better fishing is not to be found in the land.
Yes, yes ; I had the place to myself once, and a cheerful time I
320 THE PIONEERS.
had of it. The game was plenty as heart could wish; and
there was none to meddle with the ground, unless there might
have been a hunting party of the Delawares crossing the hills,
or, maybe, a rifling scout of them thieves, the Iroquois. There
was one or two Frenchmen that squatted in the flats, further
west, and married squaws; and some of the Scotch-Irishers,
from the Cherry-Valley, would come on to the lake, and borrow
my canoe to take a mess of parch, or drop a line for salmon-
trout; but, in the main, it was a cheerful place, and I had but
little to disturb me in it. John would come, and John knows.”
Mohegan turned his dark face at this appeal; and, moving
his hand forward with a graceful motion of assent, he spoke,
using the Delaware language— .
“The land was owned by my people; we gave it to my
brother, in council—to the Fire-eater ; and what the Delawares
give lasts as long as the watersrun. 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 hunting ground then, lad, and would have
been so to this day, but for the money of Marmaduke Temple,
and the twisty ways of the law.”
# “It must have been a sight of melancholy pleasure indeed,”
said Edwards, while his eye roved along the shores and over
4 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 humor.”
“Haven't I said it was cheerful?’ said Leather-stocking.
“Yes, yes; when the trees began to be covered with leaves,
and the ice was out of the lake, it was a second paradise. I
have travelled the woods for fifty-three years, and have made
them my home for more than forty ; and I can say that I have
met but one place that was more to my liking; and that was
only to eyesight, and not for hunting or fishing.”
“ And where was that ?” asked Edwards.
THE PIONEERS. 321
~“ Where ! why up on the Cattskills. I used often to go up
into the mountains after wolves’ skins and bears ; once they paid
me to get them a stuffed painter, and so I often went. There’s
a place in them hills that I used to climb to when I wanted to
see the carryings on of the world, that would well pay any man
for a barked shin or a torn moccasin. You know the 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 of clear sky,
and holding the clouds on their tops, as the smoke curls over
the head of an Indian chief at the council fire. Well, there’s
the High-peak and the Round-top, which lay back like a father
and mother among their children, seeing they are far above. all
the other hills. But the place I mean is next to the river,
where one of the ridges juts out a little from the rest, and where
the rocks fall, for the best part of a thousand feet, so much up
and down, that a man standing on their edges is fool enough to
think he can jump from top to bottom.”
“What see you when you get there ?” asked Edwards.
“ Creation,” said Natty, dropping the end of his.rod into the
water, and sweeping one hand around him in a circle: “all
creation, lad. I was on that hill when Vaughan burned ’Sopus
in the last war; and I saw the vessels come out of the High-
lands as plain as I can see that lime-scow rowing into the Sus-
quehanna, though one was twenty times further from me than
the other. The river was in sight for seventy miles, looking
like a curled shaving under my feet, though it was eight long
miles to its banks. I saw the hills in the Hampshire grants, -
the highlands of the river, and all that God had done, or man
could do, far as eye could reach—you know that the Indians
named me for my sight, lad; and from the flat on the top of
that mountain, I have often found the place where Albany
stands. And as for Sopus, the day the royal troops burnt the
town, the smoke seemed so nigh, that I thought I could hear
the screeches of the women.”
“Tt must have been worth the toil to meet with such a
glorious view.”
322 THE PIONEERS.
“Tf being the best part of a mile in the air, and having men’s
farms and housen at your feet, with rivers looking like ribbons,
and mountains bigger than the ‘ Vision,’ seeming to be hay-
stacks of green grass under you, gives any satisfaction to a man,
I can recommend the spot. When I first came into the woods
to live, I used to have weak spells when I felt lonesome; and
then I would go into the 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 am getting too old for
rugged rocks. But there’s a place, a short two miles back
of that very hill, that in late times I relished better than
the mountain; for it was more covered with the trees, and
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 water of two
little ponds, that lie near each other, breaks out of their bounds
and runs over the rocks into the valley. The stream is, maybe,
such a one as would turn a mill, if so useless a thing was
wanted in the wilderness. But the hand that made that ‘ Leap’
never made a mill. There the water comes crooking and wind-
ing among the rocks; first so slow that a trout could swim in
it, and then starting and running like a crater that wanted to
make a far spring, till it gets to where the mountain divides,
like the cleft hoof of a deer, leaving a deep hollow for the brook
to tumble into. The first pitch is nigh two hundred feet, and
the water looks like flakes of driven snow afore it touches the
bottom ; and there the stream gathers itself together again for
a new start, and maybe flutters over fifty feet of flat rock before
it falls for another hundred, when it jumps about from shelf to
shelf, first turning this-away and then turning that-away, striving
to get out of the hollow, till it finally comes to the plain.”
“T have never heard of this spot before; it is not mentioned
in the books.”
“T never read a book in my life,” said Leather-stocking ;
“and how should a man who has lived in towns and schools
THE PIONEERS. 328
know anything about the wonders of the woods? No, no, lad;
there has that little stream of water been playing among the
hills since He made the world, and not a dozen white men
have ever laid eyes on it. The rock sweeps like mason-work,
in a half-round, on both sides of the fall, and shelves over the
bottom for fifty feet; so that when I’ve been sitting at the foot
of the first pitch, and my hounds have run into the caverns
behind the sheet of water, they’ve looked no bigger than so
many rabbits. To my judgment, lad, it’s the best piece of
work that I’ve met with in the woods; and none know how
often the hand of God is seen in the wilderness, but them that
rove it for a man’s life.”
“What becomes of the water? In which direction does it
run? Is it a tributary of the Delaware ?”
“ Anan!” said Natty.
“ Does the water run into the Delaware ?”
“No, no; it’s-a drop for the old Hudson, and a merry time
it has till it gets down off the mountain. I’ve sat on the shelvy-
ing rock many a long hour, boy, and watched the bubbles as
they shot by me, and thought how long it would be before that
very water, which seemed made for the wilderness, would be
under the bottom of a vessel, and tossing in the salt sea. It is
a spot to make a man solemnize. You can see right down into
the valley that lies to the east of the High Peak, where, in the
fall of the year, thousands of acres of woods are before your
eyes, in the deep hollow, and along the side of the mountain,
painted like ten thousand rainbows, by no hand of man, though
without the ordering of God’s providence.”
“You are eloquent, Leather-stocking,” exclaimed the youth.
“ Anan !” repeated Natty.
“The recollection of the sight has Seagehba your blood, old
inan. How many years is it since you saw the place 2”
The hunter made no reply; but, bending his ear near the
water, he sat holding his breath, and listening attentively as if
to some distant sound. At length he raised his head, and
said—
324 THE PIONEERS.
“Tf I hadn’t fastened the hounds with my own hands, with a
fresh leash of green buckskin, Pd take a Bible oath that I heard
old Hector ringing his cry on the mountain.”
“It is impossible,” said Edwards ; “it is not an hour since I
saw him in his kennel.”
By this time the attention of Mohegan was attracted to the
sounds; but, notwithstanding the youth was both silent and
attentive, he could hear nothing but the lowing of some cattle
from the western hills. He looked at the old men, Natty sitting
with his hand to his ear, like a trumpet, and Mohegan bending
forward, with an arm raised to a level with his face, holding
the forefinger elevated as a signal for attention, and laughed
aloud at what he deemed to be their imaginary sounds.
“Laugh if you will, boy,” said Leather-stocking ; “ the
hounds be out, and are hunting a deer. No man can deceive
me in such a matter. I wouldn’t have had the thing happen
for a beaver’s skin. Not that I care for the law! but the venison
is lean now, and the dumb things run the flesh off their own
bones for no good. Now do you hear the hounds ?”
Edwards started, as a full cry broke on his ear, changing
from the distant sounds that were caused by some interyening
hill, to confused echoes that rang among the rocks that the
dogs were passing, and then directly to a deep and hollow bay-
ing 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 sprang on the shore, and buried
himself in the lake. A full-mouthed cry followed, when Hector
and the slut shot through the opening in the bushes, and darted
into the lake also, bearing their breasts gallantly against the
water
THE PIONEERS. 825
CHAPTER XXVII.
Oft in the full descending flood he tries
To lose the scent, and lave his burning sides.
THOMSON.
“TI xnow’p it—I know’d it!” cried Natty, when both deer
and hounds were in full view ;—‘ the buck has gone by them
with the wind, and it has been too much for the poor rogues ;
but I must break them of these tricks, or they’ll give me a deal
of trouble. He-ere, he-ere—shore with you, rascals—shore
with you—will ye?—Oh! off with you, old Hector, or Pll
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 filled the air with their cries. .
In the meantime the deer, urged by his fears, had swum
over half the distance between the shore and the boats, before
his terror permitted him to see the new danger. But at the
sounds of Natty’s voice, he turned short in his course, and for a
few moments seemed about to rush back again, and brave the
dogs. His retreat in this direction was, however, effectually cut
off, and turning a second time, he urged his course obliquely for
the centre of the lake, with an intention of landing on the
western shore. As the buck swam by the fishermen, raising his
nose high into the air, curling the water before his slim neck
like the beak of a galley, the Leather-stocking began to sit very
uneasy in his canoe.
“?Tis a noble creater!” he exclaimed; “ what a pair of
horns! a man might hang up all his garments on the branches.
Let me see—July is the last month, and the flesh must be
~~
326 THE PIONEERS.
getting good.” While he was talking, Natty had instinctively
employed himself in fastening the inner end of the bark rope,
that served him for a cable, to a paddle, and rising suddenly on
his legs, he cast this buoy away, and cried—“ Strike out, John!
let her go. The creater’s a fool to tempt a man in this way.”
Mohegan threw the fastening of the youth’s boat from the
_ canoe, and with one stroke of his paddle sent the light bark
over the water like a meteor.
“Hold !” exclaimed Edwards. “Remember the law, my old
friends. You are in plain sight of the village, and I know
that Judge Temple is determined to prosecute all indiscrimi-
nately, who kill deer out of season.”
The remonstrance came too late: the canoe was already far
from the skiff, and the two hunters were too much engaged in
the pursuit to listen to his voice.
The buck was now within fifty yards of his pursuers, cutting
the water gallantly, and snorting at each breath with terror and
his exertions, while the canoe seemed to dance over the waves,
as it rose and fell with the undulations made by its own motion.
Leather-stocking raised his rifle and freshened the priming, but
stood in suspense whether to slay his victim or not.
“Shall J, 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 arm, and mind the turn of the buck ; it’s
easy to catch them, but they'll turn like a snake.”
The Indian laughed at the conceit of his friend, but con-
tinued to send the canoe forward with a velocity 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.
“Hugh !” exclaimed Mohegan; “the deer turns his head.
Hawk-eye, lift your spear.”
Natty never moved abroad without taking with him every
implement that might, by possibility, be of service in his pur-
suits. From his rifle he never parted; and although intending
THE PIONEERS. 327
to fish with the line, the canoe was invariably furnished with
all of its utensils, even to its grate. This precaution grew out
of the habits of the hunter, who was often led, by his necessities
or his sports, far beyond the limits of his original destination.
A few years earlier than the date of our tale, the Leather-stock-
ing had left his hut on the shores of the Otsego, with his rifle
and his hounds, for a few days’ hunting in the hills; but before
he returned he had seen the waters of Ontario. One, two, or
even three hundred miles had once been nothing to his sinews,
which were now a little stiffened by age. The hunter did as
Mohegan advised, and prepared to strike a blow, with the
barbed weapon, into the neck of the buck.
“Lay her more to the left, John,” he cried, “lay her more
to the left; another stroke of the paddle, and I have him.”
While speaking, he raised the spear, and darted it 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, harmlessly, in the lake. :
“ Back water,” cried Natty, as the canoe glided over the
place where the spear had fallen; “ hold water, John.” 3
The pole soon re-appeared, shooting upwards from the lake,
and as the hunter seized it in his hand, the Indian whirled the
light canoe round, and renewed the chase. But this evolution
gave the buck a great advantage; and it also allowed time for
Edwards to approach the scene of action.
“Hold your hand, Natty!” cried the youth, “hold your
hand ! remember it is out of season.”
This remonstrance was made as the batteau arrived close te
the place where the deer was struggling with the water, his
back now rising to the surface, now sinking beneath it, as the
waves curled from his neck, the animal still sustaining itself
nobly against the odds.
“ Hwrah !” shouted Edwards, inflamed beyond prudence at
the sight; “ mind him as he doubles—mind himas he doubles;
sheer more to the right, Mohegan, more to the right, and I'll
have him by the horns; [ll throw the rope over his.antlers.”
828 THE PIONEERS.
The dark eye of the old warrior was dancing in his heaa
with a wild animation, and the sluggish repose in which his
aged frame had been resting in the canoe was now changed to
all the rapid inflections of practised agility. The canoe whirled
with each cunning evolution of the chase, like a bubble floating
in a whirlpool; and when the direction of the pursuit admitted
of a straight course, the little bark skimmed the lake with a
velocity that urged the deer to seek its safety in some new turn.
It was the frequency of these circuitous movements, that, by
confining the action to so small a compass, enabled the youth
to keep near his companions. More than twenty times both
the pursued and the pursuers glided by him, just without the
reach of his oars, until he thought the best way to view the
sport was to remain stationary, and, by watching a favorable
opportunity, assist as much as he could, in taking the victim.
He was not required to wait long, for no sooner had he
adopted this resolution, and risen in the boat, than he saw the
deer coming bravely 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, making a noose, cast it from
him with all his force, and luckily succeeded in drawing its knot .
close around one of the antlers of the buck.
For one instant, the skiff was drawn through the water, but
in the next, the canoe glided before it, and Natty, bending low,
passed his knife across the throat of the animal, whose blood
followed the wound, dying the waters. The short time that
was passed in the last struggles of the animal was spent by the
hunters in bringing their boats together, and securing them in
that position, when Leather-stocking drew the deer from the
water, and laid its lifeless form in the bottom of the canoe. He
placed his hands on the ribs, and on different parts of the body
of his prize, and then, raising his head, he laughed in his pecu-
liar manner—
“So much for Marmaduke Temple’s law!” he said. “This
warms a body’s blood, old John; I haven’t killed a buck in the
THE PIONEERS. 329
lake afore this, sin’ many a year. I call that good venison, lad ;
and I know them that will relish the creater’s steaks, for all the
betterments in the land.”
The Indian had long been drooping with his years, and per-
haps under the calamities of his race, but this invigorating and
exciting sport caused a gleam of sunshine to cross his swarthy
face that had long been absent from his features.’ It was evi-
dent the old man enjoyed the chase more as a memorial of his
youthful sports and deeds, than with any expectation of profit-
ing by the success. He felt the deer, however, lightly, his hand
already trembling with the re-action of his unusual exertions,
and smiled with a nod of approbation, as he said, in the emphatic
and sententious manner of his people—
“ Good.”
“Tam afraid, Natty,” said Edwards, when the heat of the
moment had passed, and his blood began to cool, “that we
have all been equally transgressors of the law. But keep your
own counsel, and there are none here to betray us. Yet, how
came those dogs at large? I left them securely fastened, I
know, for I felt the thongs, and examined the knots, when 1 |
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 matter.”
When the old hunter landed, and examined the thongs that
were yet fast to the hounds, his countenance sensibly changed,
and he shook his head doubtingly.
“ Here has been a knife at work,” he said :—“ this skin was
never torn, nor is this the mark of a hound’s tooth. No, no—
Hector is not in fault, as I feared.”
“Has the leather been cut?” cried Edwards.
“No, no—I didn’t say it had been cut, lad; but this is a
mark that was never made by a jump or a bite.”
“ Mould that rascally carpenter have dared !”
3830 THE PIONEERS.
“Ay! he durst to do anything when there is no danger,”
said Natty: “he is a curious body, and loves to be helping
other people on with their consarns. But he had best not
harbor so much near the wigwam !”
In the meantime, Mohegan had been examining, with an
Indian’s sagacity, the place where the leather thong had been
separated. After scrutinizing it closely, he said, in Delaware—
“Tt was cut with a knife—a aes! blade and a long handle
—the man was afraid of the dogs.”
“How is this, Mohegan ?” exclaimed Edwards: “ you saw
it not! how can you know these facts ?”
“ Listen, son,” said the warrior. “The knife was sharp, for
the cut is smooth ;—the handle was long, for a man’s arm
would not reach from this gash to the cut that did not go
through the skin :—he was a coward, or he would have cut
the thongs around the necks of the hounds.”
“On my life,” cried Natty, “John is on the scent! It was
the carpenter; and he has got on the rock back of the kennel,
and let the dogs loose by fastening his knife to a stick. It
would be an easy matter to do it, where a man is so minded.”
“ And why should he do so?” asked Edwards: ‘who has
done him wrong, that he should trouble two old men like
you?”
“Tt’s a hard matter, lad, to know men’s ways, I find, since
the settlers have brought in their new fashions. But is there
nothing to be found out in the place? and maybe he is troubled
with his longings after other people’s business, as he often is.”
“Your suspicions are just. Give me the canoe: I am young
and strong, and will get down there yet, perhaps, in time to
interrupt his plans. Heaven forbid that we should be at the ©
mercy of such a man !”
His proposal was accepted, the deer being placed in the skifl
in order to lighten the canoe, 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.
THE PIONEERS 831
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.
ree
C.AOMONDS. St
332 THE PIONEERS.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
Ask me not what the maiden feels,
Left in that dreadful hour alone;
Perchance, her reason stoops, or reels ;
Perchance, a courage not her own,
Braces her mind to desperate tone.
Scort.
Wurtz the chase was occurring on the lake, Miss Templo
and her companion pursued their walk on the mountain. Male
attendants on such excursions were thought to be altogether
unnecessary, for none were ever known to offer an insult to a
female, who respected herself. After the embarrassment created
by the parting discourse with Edwards had dissipated, the girls
maintained a conversation that was as innocent and cheerful as
themselves.
The path they took led them but a short distance above
the hut of Leather-stocking, and there was a point in the
road which commanded a bird’s eye view of the sequestered
spot.
From a feeling that might have been natural, and must have
been powerful, neither of the friends, in their frequent and con-
fidential dialogues, had ever trusted herself to utter one syllable
concerning the equivocal situation in which the young man
who was now so intimately associated with them, had been
found. If Judge Temple had deemed it prudent to make any
inquiries on the subject, he had also thought it proper to keep
the answers to himself; though it was so common an occurrence
to find the well educated youth of the eastern states in every
Stage of their career to wealth, that the simple circumstance of
his intelligence, connected with his poverty, would not, at that
day, and in that country, have excited any very powerful curi-
THE PIONEERS. BBS
osity. With his breeding, it might have been different; but
the youth himself had*so effectually guarded against surprise on
this subject, by his cold, and even, in some cases, rude deport-
ment, that when his manners seemed to soften by time, the
Judge, if he thought about it at all, would have been most
likely to imagine that the improvement was the result of his
late association. But women are always more alive to such
subjects than men; and what the abstraction of the father had
overlooked, the observation of the daughter had easily detected.
In the thousand little courtesies of polished life, she had early
discovered that Edwards was not wanting, though his gentle-
ness was so often crossed by marks of what she conceived to be
fierce and uncontrollable passions. It may, perhaps, be unneces-
sary to tell the reader that Louisa Grant never reasoned so
much after the fashions of the world. The gentle girl, however,
had her own thoughts on the subject, and, like others, she drew
her own conclusions.
“T would give all my other secrets, Louisa,” exclaimed Miss
Temple, laughing, and shaking back her dark locks, with a
look of childish simplicity that her intelligent face seldom °
expressed, “to be mistress of all that those rude logs have heard
and witnessed.” |
They were both looking at the secluded hut at the instant,
and Miss Grant raised her mild eyes as she answered—
“T am sure they would tell nothing to the disadvantage of
Mr. Edwards.”
“Perhaps not; but they might, at least, tell who he is.”
“ Why, dear Miss Temple, we know all that already. I have
heard it all very rationally explained by your cousin—”
“The executive chief! he can explain anything. His inge-
nuity will one day discover the philosopher’s stone. But what
did he say ?”
“Say!” echoed Louisa, with a look of surprise; “why
everything that seemed to me to be satisfactory, and I 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
834 THE PIONEERS.
means he had formed an acquaintance with old John, the Dela-
ware chief.” ’ .
“Indeed! that was quite a matter-of-fact tale for cousin
Dickon. What came next ?”
“T believe he accounted for their close intimacy, by some
story about the Leather-stocking saving the life of John in a
battle.”
“Nothing more likely,” said Elizabeth, a little impatiently ;
“but what is all this to the purpose ?”
“ Nay, Elizabeth, you must bear with my ignorance, and I
will repeat all that I remember to have overheard; for the
dialogue was between my father and the Sheriff, so lately as the
last time they met. He then added, that the kings of England
used to keep gentlemen as agents among the different tribes of
Indians, and sometimes officers in the army, who frequently
passed half their lives on the edge of the wilderness.”
“Told with wonderful historical accuracy! And did he end
there 2”
“Oh! no—then he said that these agents seldom married;
and—and—they must have been wicked men, Elizabeth ! but I
assure you he said so.”
“Never mind,” said Miss Temple, blushing and smiling,
though so slightly, that both were unheeded by her companion
—*“ skip all that.”
“Well, then, he said that they often took great pride in the
education of their children, whom they frequently sent to Eng-
land, and even to the colleges; and this is the way that he
accounts for the liberal manner in which Mr. Edwards has been
taught ; for he acknowledges that he knows almost as much as
your father—or mine—or even. himself.”
“ Quite a climax in learning! And so he made Mohegan the
grand uncle, or grand father of Oliver Edwards.”
“You have heard him yourself, then ?” said Louisa.
“Often ; but not on this subject. Mr. Richard Jones, you
know, dear, has a theory for everything ; but has he one which
will explain the reason why that hut is the only habitation
THE PIONEERS. 335
within fifty miles of us, whose door is not open to every person »
who may choose to lift its latch ?”
“TY have never heard him say anything on this subject,”
returned the clergyman’s daughter; “ but I suppose that, as
they are poor, they very naturally are anxious to keep the little
that they honestly own. It is sometimes dangerous to be rich,
Miss qenaploi ; but you cannot know how hard it is to be very,
very poor.”
“Nor you, I trust, Louisa; at least I shins hope that, in
this land of abundance, no sinister of the church could be left
to absolute suffering.”
“There cannot be actual misery,” returned the other, in a
low and humble tone, “where there is a dependence on our
Maker ; but there may be such suffering as will cause the heart
to ache.”
“But not you—not you,” said the impetuous Elizabeth—
“not you, dear girl: you have never known the misery that is
connected with poverty.”
“Ah! Miss Temple, you little understand the troubles of this
life, I believe. My father has spent many years as a missionary |
in the new countries, where his people were poor, and frequently
we have been without bread; unable to buy, and ashamed to
beg, because we would not disgrace his sacred calling. But
how often have I seen him leave his home, where the sick and
the hungry felt, when he left them, that they had lost their
only earthly friend, to ride on a duty which could not be
neglected for domestic evils. Oh! how hard it must be to
preach consolation to others, when your own heart is bursting
with anguish !” —
“ But it is all overnow! your father’s income must now be
equal to his wants—it must be——it shall be y
“Tt 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
oe
336 THE PIONEEBS.
charity ; and Elizabeth folded her friend in her arms, when the
latter gave vent to her momentary grief in audible sobs. When
this burst of emotion had subsided, Louisa raised her mild
countenance, and they continued their walk in silence.
By this time they had gained the summit of the mountain,
where they left the highway, and pursued their course under
the shade of the stately trees that crowned the eminence. The
day was becoming warm, and the girls plunged more deeply
into the forest, as they found its invigorating coolness agreeably
contrasted to the excessive heat they had experienced in the
ascent. The conversation, as if by mutual consent, was entirely
changed to the little incidents and scenes of their walk, and
every tall pine, and every shrub or flower, called forth some
simple expression of admiration.
-In this manner they proceeded along the margin of the pre-
cipice, 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 ay
mournful sounds, that proceeded from the forest, with quick and
impatient steps. More than once, the ardent Elizabeth was on
the point of announcing that she saw the sufferer, when Louisa
caught her by the arm, and pointing behind them; crled—
“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
THE PIONEERS. Sy
scenery, or to add to their bouquets, the mastiff would lay his
huge frame on the ground, and await their movements, with
his eyes closed, and a listlessness in his air that ill accorded
with the character of a protector. But when, aroused by this
cry from Louisa, Miss Temple turned, she saw the dog with his
eyes keenly set on some distant object, his head bent near the
ground, and his hair actually rising on his body, through fright
or anger. It was most probably the latter, for he was growling
in a low key, and occasionally showing his teeth, in a manner
that would have terrified his mistress, had she not so well known
his good qualities.
“Brave !” she said, “be quiet, Brave! what do you see,
fellow 2”
At the sounds of her voice, the rage of the mastiff, instead of
being at all diminished, was very sensibly increased. He
stalked in front of the ladies, and seated himself at the feet of
his mistress, growling louder than before, and occasionally giving
vent to his ire, by a short, surly barking.
“What does he see ?” said Elizabeth: “there must be some
animal in sight.”
Hearing no answer from her companion, Miss Temple turned
her head, and beheld Louisa, standing with her face whitened
to the color of death, and her finger pointing upwards, with a
sort of flickering, 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 to leap.
“Tet us fly,” exclaimed Elizabeth, grasping the arm of
Louisa, whose form yielded like melting snow. _
There was not a single feeling in the temperament of Eliza-
beth Temple that could prompt her to desert a companion in
such an extremity. She fell on her knees, by the side of the
inanimate Louisa, tearing from the person of her friend, with
instinctive readiness, such parts of her dress as might obstruct
her respiration, and encouraging their only safeguard, the dog,
at the same time, by the sounds of her voice.
15
338 THE PIONEERS.
“ Courage, Brave!” she cried, her own tones beginning to
tremble, “ courage, courage, good Brave !”
A quarter-grown cub, that had hitherto been unseen, now
appeared, dropping from the branches of a sapling that grew
under the shade of the beech which held its dam. This igno-
rant, but vicious creature, approached the dog, imitating the
actions and sounds of its parent, but exhibiting a strange mix-
ture of the playfulness of a kitten with the ferocity of its race.
Standing on its hind legs, it would rend the bark of a tree with
its fore paws, and play the antics of a cat; and then, by lashing
itself with its tail, growling, and scratching the earth, it would
attempt the manifestations of anger that rendered its parent so
terrific.
All this time Brave stood firm and undaunted, his short tail
erect, his body drawn backward on its haunches, and his eyes
following the movements of -both dam and cub. At every
gambol played by the latter, it approached nigher to the dog,
the growling of the three becoming more horrid at each
moment, until the younger beast overleaping its intended
bound, fell directly before the mastiff. There was a moment
of fearful cries and struggles, but they ended almost as soon as
commenced, by the cub appearing in the air, hurled from the
jaws of Brave, with a violence that sent it against a tree so
forcibly as to render it completely senseless.
Elizabeth witnessed the short struggle, and her blood was
warming with the triumph of the dog, when she saw the form
of the old panther in the air, springing twenty feet from the
branch of the beech to the back of the mastiff. No words of
ours can describe the fury of the conflict that followed. It was
a confused struggle on the dry leaves, accompanied by loud and
terrific cries. Miss Temple continued on her knees, bending
over the form of Louisa, her eyes fixed on the animals, with
an interest so horrid, and yet so intense, that she almost forgot
her own stake in the result. So rapid and vigorous. were the
bounds of the inhabitant of the forest, that its active frame
seemed constantly in the air, while the dog nobly faced his foe
THE PIONEERS. «$39
at each successive leap. When the panther lighted on the
shoulders of the mastiff, which was its constant aim, old Brave,
though torn with her talons, and stained with his own blood,
that already flowed from a dozen wounds, would shake off his
furious foe like a feather, and rearing on his hind legs, rush to
the fray again, with jaws distended, and a dauntless eye. But
age, and his pampered life, greatly disqualified the noble mastiff
for such a struggle. In everything but courage, he was only
the vestige of what he had once-been. A higher bound than
ever raised the wary and furious beast far beyond the reach of
the dog, who was making a desperate but fruitless dash at her,
from which she alighted in a favorable position, on the back of
her aged foe. For a single moment only could the panther
remain there, the great strength of the dog returning with a
convulsive effort. But Elizabeth saw, as Brave fastened his teeth
in the side of his enemy, that the collar of brass around his
neck, which had been glittering throughout the fray, was of the
color of blood, and directly, that his frame was sinking to the
earth, where it soon lay prostrate and helpless. Several mighty
efforts of the wild-cat to extricate herself from the jaws of the |
dog followed, but they were fruitless, until the mastiff turned
on his back, his lips collapsed, and his teeth loosened, when the
short convulsions and stillness that succeeded, announced the
death of poor Brave. |
Elizabeth now lay wholly at the mercy of the beast. There
is said to be something in the front of the image of the Maker
that daunts the hearts of the inferior beings of his creation;
and it would seem that some such power, in the present
instance, suspended the threatened blow. The eyes of the
monster and the kneeling maiden met for an instant, when the
former stooped to examine her fallen foe; next to scent her
luckless cub. From the latter examination, it turned, however,
with its eyes apparently emitting flashes of fire, its tail lashing
its sides furiously, and its claws projecting inches from her broad
feet.
Miss Temple did not or could not move. Her hands were
340 THE PIONEERS.
clasped in the attitude of prayer, but her eyes were still drawn
to her terrible enemy—her cheeks were blanched to the white-
ness of marble, and her lips were slightly separated with horror.
The moment seemed now to have arrived for the fatal
termination, and the beautiful figure of Elizabeth was bowing
meekly to the stroke, when a rustling of leaves behind seemed
rather to mock the organs than to meet her ears.
“ Hist! hist!” said a low voice, “steep lower, gal; your
bonnet hides the creater’s head.”
It was rather the yielding of nature than a compliance with
this unexpected order, that caused the head of our heroine to
sink on her bosom; when she heard the report of the rifle, the
whizzing of the bullet, and the enraged cries of the beast, who
was rolling over on the earth biting its own flesh, and tearing
the twigs and branches within its reach. At the next instant
the form of the Leather-stocking rushed by her, and he called
aloud—
“Come in, Hector, come in, old fool; ’tis a hard-lived ani-
mal, and may jump ag’in.”
Natty fearlessly maintained his position in front of the
females, notwithstanding the violent bounds and threatening
aspect of the wounded panther, which gave several indications
of returning strength and ferocity, until his rifle was again
loaded, when he stepped up to the enraged animal, and placing
the muzzle close to its head, every spark of life was extin-
guished by the discharge. 7
The death of her terrible enemy appeared to Elizabeth like a
resurrection from her own grave. There was an elasticity in
the mind of our heroine that rose to meet the pressure of instant
danger, and the more direct it had been, the more her nature
had struggled to overcome them. But still she was a woman.
Iiad she been left to herself in her late extremity, she would
probably have used her faculties to the utmost, and with discre-
tion, in protecting her person; but encumbered with her inani-
mate friend, retreat was a thing not to be attempted. Not-
withstanding the fearful aspect of her foe, the eye of Elizabeth
THE PIONEERS. 34] —
had never shrunk from its gaze, and long after the event her
thoughts would recur to her passing sensations, and the sweet-
ness of her midnight sleep would be disturbed, as her active
fancy conjured, in dreams, the most triflng movements of
savage fury that the beast had exhibited in its moment of
power.
We shall leave the reader to imagine the restoration of
Louisa’s senses, and the expressions of gratitude which fell from
the young women. The former was effected by a little water,
that was brought from one of the thousand springs of those
mountains, in the cap of the Leather-stocking ; and the latter
were uttered with the warmth that might be expected from the
character of Elizabeth. Natty received her vehement protesta-
tions of gratitude with a simple expression of good-will, and
with indulgence for her present excitement, but with a careless-
ness that showed how little he thought of the service he had
rendered.
“Well, well,” he said, “be it so, gal ; let it be so, if you wish
it—we’ll talk the thing over another time. Come, come—let
us get into the road, for you’ve had terror enough to make you
wish yourself in your father’s house 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 ladies separated from their guide, declaring
themselves equal to the remainder of the walk without his assist-
ance, 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 experi-
ence at their escape from a death so horrid as the one which
had impended over them, while they pursued their way in
silence along the track on the side of the mountain; nor how
deep were their mental thanks to that Power which had given
them their existence, and which had not deserted themin their
042 THE PIONEERS.
extremity ; neither how often they pressed each other's arms,
as the assurance of their present safety came, like a healing
balm athwart their troubled spirits, when their thoughts were
recurring to the recent moments of horror.
_Leather-stocking remained on the hill, gazing after their retir-
ing figures, until they were hidden by a bend in the road, when
he whistled in his dogs, and shouldering his rifle, he returned
into the forest.
“Well, it was a skeary thing to the young creaters,” said
Natty, while he retrod the path towards the plain. “It might
frighten an older woman, to see a she painter so near her, with
a dead cub by its side. I wonder if I had aimed at the
varmint’s eye, if I shouldn’t have touched the life sooner than
in the forehead; but they are hard-lived animals, and it was a
good shot, consid’ring that I could see nothing but the head
and the peak of its tail. Hah! who goes there ?”
“How goes it, Natty ?” said Mr. Doolittle, stepping out of the
bushes, with a motion that was a good deal accelerated by the
sight of the rifle, that was already lowered in his direction.
| “What! shooting this warm day! mind, old man, the law
don’t get hold on you.”
“The law, squire! I have shook hands with the law these
forty year,” returned Natty ; “for what has a man who lives in
the wilderness to do with the ways of the law ?”
“ Not much, may be,” said Hiram 3 “ but you sometimes trade
in venison. I s’pose you know, Leather-stocking, that there is
an act passed to lay a fine of five pounds currency, or twelve
dollars and fifty cents, by decimals, on every man who kills a
deer betwixt January and August. The Judge had a great
hand in getting the law through.” 08
“T can believe it,” returned the old hunter ; “I can believe
that or anything, of a man who carries on as he does in the
country.”
“Yes, the law is quite positive, and the Judge is bent on
putting it in foree—five pounds penalty. I thought I heard
THE PIONEERS. 343
your hounds out on the scent of so’thing this morning: I didn’t
know but they might get you in difficulty.”
“They know their manners too well,” said Natty, carelessly.
“ And how much goes to the state’s evidence, squire ?”
“How much!” repeated Hiram, quailing under the honest
but sharp look of the hunter :—“ the informer gets half I—I
believe ;—yes, I guess it’s half. But there’s blood on your
sleeve, man—you haven’t been shooting anything this morn-
ing 2”
“T have, though,” said the hunter, nodding his head signifi-
cantly to the other, “anda 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 anything that isn’t choice.”
“They'll hunt anything I tell them to, squire,” cried Natty,
favoring the other with his laugh. “ They’ll hunt you, if I say
so. He-e-e-re, he-e-e-re, Hector—he-e-e-re, slut—come this
away, pups—come this away—come hither.”
“Oh! I have always heard a good character of the dogs,” —
returned Mr. Doolittle, quickening his pace by raising each leg
in rapid succession, as the hounds scented around his person.
“ And where is the game, Leather-stocking ””
During this dialogue, the speakers had been walking at a
very fast gait, and Natty swung the end of his rifie round,
yointing through the bushes, and replied—
“There lies one. How do you like such meat ?”
“This !” exclaimed Hiram; “why this is Judge Temple’s dog
Brave. Take care, Leather Stocking, and don’t make an enemy
of the Judge. I hope you haven’t harmed the animal ?”
“Look for yourself, Mr. Doolittle,” said Natty, drawing his
knife from his girdle, and wiping it, in a knowing manner, once
or twice across his garment of buckskin; ‘does his throat look
as if I had cut it with this knife ?”
“Tt is dreadfully torn! it’s an awful wound—no knife never
did this deed. Who could have done it %”
“The painters behind you, squire.”
$44 THE PIONEERS,
“ Painters !? echoed Hiram, whirling on his heel with an
agility that would have done credit to a dancing-master.
“Be easy, man,” said Natty; “there’s two of the venomous
things; but the dog finished one, and I have fastened the
other’s jaws for her; so don’t be frightened, squire, they won’t
hurt you.”
“ And where’s the deer?” cried Hiram, staring about him
with a bewildered air.
“Anan! deer!” repeated Natty.
“ Sartain, an’t there venison here, or didn’t you kill a buck %”
“ What! when the law forbids the thing, squire!” said the
old hunter. “I hope there’s no law ag’in killing the painters.”
“No; there’s a bounty on the scalps—but—will your dogs
hunt painters, Natty ?”
“ Anything ; didn’t I tell you they’d hunt a man? He-e-re,
he-e-re, pups i
“Yes, yes, l[remember. Well, they are strange dogs, I must
say—lI am quite in a wonderment.”
Natty had seated himself on the ground, and having laid
the grim head of his late ferocious enemy in his lap, was drawing
his knife with a practised hand around the ears, which he tore
from the head of the beast in such a manner as to preserve
their connexion, when he answered—
“What at, squire ? did you never see a painter's scalp afore ?
Come, you are a magistrate, | wish you'd make me out an
order for the bounty.”
“The bounty!” repeated Hiram, holding the ears on the end
of his finger, for a moment, as if uncertain how to proceed.
“ Well, let us go down to your hut, where you can take the oath,
and I will write out the order. I suppose you have a Bible?
all the law wants is the four evangelists and the Lord’s
prayer.”
“IT keep no books,” said Natty a little coldly: “not such a
Bible as the law needs.”
“Oh! there’s but one sort of Bible that’s good in law,”
ceturned the magistrate: “and yourn will do as well as
THE PIONEERS. 846
another’s. Come, the carcases 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, fora thing that your own
eyes has seen? won’t you believe yourself, that another man
must swear to a fact that you know to be true? You have
seen me scalp the 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—
“ And what should I be doing with scholars’ tools? I want
no pens or paper, not knowing the use of either; and I keep
none. No, no, [ll bring the scalps into the village; squire, and
you can make out the order on one of your law-books, and it
will be all the better for it. The deuce take this leather on the
neck of the dog, it will strangle the old fool. Can youlend me
a knife, squire ?” :
Hiram, who seemed particularly anxious to be on good terms
with his companion, unhesitatingly complied. Natty cut the
thong from the. neck of the hound, and, as he returned the
knife to its owner, carelessly remarked—
“Tis a good bit of steel, and has cut such leather as this very
same, before now, I dare say.”
“Do you mean to charge me with letting your hounds loose 2”
exclaimed Hiram, with a consciousness that disarmed his caution.
“Loose !” repeated the hunter—‘“I let them loose myself.
L always let them loose before I leave the hut.”
The ungovernable amazement with which Mr. Doolittle listened
to this falsehood, would have betrayed his agency in the libera-
tion of the dogs, had Natty wanted any further confirmation ;
and the coolness and management of the old man now disap-
peared in open indignation.
“Took you here, Mr. Doolittle,” he said, striking the bieech
346 THE PIONEERS.
of his rifle violently on the ground ; “ what there is in the wig-
wam of a poor man like me, that one like you can crave, I don’t
know ; but this I tell you to your face, that you never shall put
foot under the roof of my cabin with my consent, and that if
you harbor round the spot as you have done lately, you may
meet with treatment that you will little relish.”
“ And let me tell you, Mr. Bumppo,” said Hiram, retreating,
however, with a quick step, “that I know you’ve broke the law,
and that I’m a magistrate, and will make you feel it too, before
you are a day older.”
“That for you and your law too,” cried Natty, snapping his
fingers at the justice of the peace :—‘‘ away with you, you
yarmint, before the devil tempts me to give you your desarts.
Take care, 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 indig-
nation, and Hiram did not stay to provoke the wrath of the old
hunter to extremities. When the intruder was out of sight,
Natty proceeded to the hut, where he found all quiet as the
grave. He fastened his dogs, and tapping at the door, which
was opened by Edwards, asked—
“Ts all safe, lad !”
“ Everything,” returned the youth. “Some one attempted
the lock, but it was too strong for him.”
“ IT know the creater,” said Natty, “ but he’ll not trust himself
within reach of my rifle very soon ” What more was
uttered by the Leather-stocking, in his vexation, was rendered
inaudible by the closing of the door of the cabin.
THE PIONEERS. 347
CHAPTER XXIX.
It is noised, he hath a mass of treasure.
Timon or ATHENS.
_ Wuen Marmaduke Temple and his cousin rode through
the gate of the former, the heart of the father had been too
recently touched with the best feelings of our nature, to leave
inclination for immediate discourse. There was an importance
in the air of Richard, which would not have admitted of the
ordinary informal conversation of the Sheriff, without violating
all the rules of consistency ; and the equestrians pursued their
way with great diligence, for more than a mile, in profound
silence. At length the soft expression of parental affection was
slowly chased from the handsome features of the Judge, and
was gradually supplanted by the cast of humor and benevolence
that was usually seated on his brow.
“ Well, Dickon,” he said, “since I have yielded myself so far
implicitly to your guidance, I think the moment has arrived
when I am entitled to further confidence. Why and wherefore
are we journeying together in this solemn gait ?”
The Sheriff gave a loud hem, that rang far in the forest, and
keeping his eyes fixed on objects before him, like a man who is
looking deep into futurity—
“There has always been one point of difference between us,
Judge Temple, I may say, since our nativity,” he replied; “ not
that I would insinuate that you are at all answerable for the
acts of nature ; for a man is no more to be condemned for the
misfortunes of his birth, than he is to be commended for the
natural advantages he may possess; but on one point we may
be said to have differed from our births, and they, you know,
occurred within two days of each other.”
348 THE PIONEERS.
“T really marvel, Richard, what this one point can be; for, to
my eyes, we seem to differ so materially, and so often 7
“Mere consequences, sir,” interrupted the Sheriff; “all our
minor differences proceed from one cause, and that is, our
opinions of the universal attainments of genius.”
“Tn what, Dickon ?”
“T speak plain English, I believe, Judge Temple; at least I
aught ; for my father, who taught me, could speak ts
“Greek and Latin,” interrupted Marmaduke. “TI well know
the qualifications of your family in tongues, Dickon. But
proceed to the point; why are we travelling over this mountain
to-day ?”
“To do justice to any subject, sir, the narrator must be
suffered to proceed in his own way,” continued the Sheriff.
“You are of opinion, Judge Temple, that a man is to be quali-
fied by nature and education to do only one thing well, whereas
I know that genius will supply the place of learning, and that a
certain sort of man can do anything and everything.”
“ Like yourself, I suppose,” said Marmaduke, smiling.
“TI scorn personalities, sir, I say nothing of myself; but there
are three men on your Patent, of the kind that I should term
talented by nature for her general purposes, though acting
under the influence of different situations.”
“We are better off, then, than I had supposed. Who are
these triumviri ?”
“Why, sir, one is Hiram Doolittle; a carpenter by trade, as
you know,—and I need only point to the village to exhibit his
merits. Then he is a magistrate, and might shame many a
man, in his distribution of justice, who has had better oppor-
tunities.”
“Well, he is one,” said Marmaduke, with the air of a man
that was determined not to dispute the point.
“ Jotham Riddel is another.”
6c Who 4s
“Jotham Riddel.”
“What, that dissatisfied, shiftless, lazy, speculating fellow!
THE PIONEERS. 349
he who changes his county every three years, his farm every
six months, and his occupation every season! an agriculturist
yesterday, a shoemaker to-day, and a schoolmaster to-morrow ?
that epitome of all the unsteady and profitless propensities of
the settlers without one of their good qualities to counterbalance
the evil! Nay, Richard, this is too bad for even but the
third ?”
“As the third is not used to hearing such comments on his
character, Judge Temple, I shall not name him.”
“The amount of all this, then, Dickon, is, that the trio, of
which you are one, and the principal, have made some import-
ant discovery.”
“T have not said that Iam one, Judge Temple. As I told
you before, I say nothing egotistical. _ But a discovery has been
made, and you are deeply interested in it.”
“ Proceed—I am all ears.”
“No, no, duke, you are bad enough, I own, but not so bad
as that either: your ears are not quite full grown.”
The Sheriff laughed heartily at his own wit, and put himself
in good humor thereby, when he gratified his patient cousin
with the following explanation :—
“You know, ‘duke, there is a man living on your estate that
goes by the name of Natty Bumppo. Here has this man lived,
by what I can learn, for more than forty years—by himself,
until lately ; and now with strange companions.”
“ Part very true, and all very probable,” said the Judge.
“ All true, sir; all true. Well, within these last few months
have appeared as his companions, an old Indian chief, the last,
or one of the last of his tribe that is to be found in this part of
the country, and a young man, who is said to be the son of
some Indian agent, by a squaw.”
“Who says that?” cried Marmaduke, with an interest that
he had not manifested before.
“Who? why common sense—common report—the hue and
ery. But listen till you know all. This youth has very pretty —
talents—yes, what I call very pretty talents—and has been well
350 THE PIONEERS
educated, has seen very tolerable company, and knows how to
behave himself, when he has a mind to. Now, Judge Temple,
can you tell me what has brought three such men as Indian
John, Natty Bumppo, and Oliver Edwards together ?”
Marmaduke turned his countenance, in evident surprise, to his
cousin, and replied quickly— |
“Thou hast unexpectedly hit on a subject, Richard, that has
often occupied my mind. But knowest thou anything of this
mystery, or are they only the crude conjectures o ‘i
“Crude nothing, duke, crude nothing; but facts, stubborn
facts. You know there are mines in these mountains; I have
often heard you say that you believed in their existence.”
“Reasoning from analogy, Richard, but not with any certainty
of the fact.”
“You have heard them mentioned, and have seen specimens
. of the ore, sir; you will not deny that! and, reasoning from
analogy, as you say, if there be mines in South America, ought
there not to be mines in North America too ?”
“Nay, nay, I deny nothing, my cousin. I certainly have
heard many rumors of the existence of mines in these hills;
and I do believe that I have seen specimens of the precious
metals that have been found here. It would occasion me no
surprise to learn that tin and silver, or what I consider of
”
more consequence, good coal
“Damn your coal,” cried the Sheriff; “who wants to find
coal in these forests? No, no, silver, duke; silver is the one
thing needful, and silver is to be found. But listen: you are
not to be told that the natives have long known the use of gold
and silver; now who so likely to be acquainted where they
are to be found, as the ancient inhabitants of a country? I
have the best reasons for believing that both Mohegan and the
Leather-stocking have been privy to the existence of a mine in
this very mountain, for many years.”
The Sheriff had now touched his cousin ii a sensitive spot ;
and Marmaduke lent a more attentive ear to the speaker, who,
THE PIONEERS. 351
after waiting a moment, to see the effect of this extraordinary
development, proceeded—
“Yes, sir, I have my reasons, and at a proper time you shall
know them.”
“No time is so good as the present.”
“Well, well, be attentive,” continued Richard, looking. cau-
tiously about him, to make certain that no eavesdropper was
hid in the forest, though they were in constant motion. “I
have seen Mohegan and the Leather-stocking, with my own
eyes—and my eyes are as good as anybody’s eyes—I have
seen them, I say, both going up the mountain and coming
down it; with spades and picks; and others have seen them
carrying things into their hut, in a secret and mysterious
manner, after dark. Do you call this a fact of importance ?”
The Judge did not reply, but his brow had contracted, with
a thoughtfulness that he always wore when much interested, .
and his eyes rested on his cousin in expectation of hearing
more. Richard continued—
“Tt was ore. Now, sir, I ask if you can tell me who this
Mr. Oliver Edwards is, that has made a part of your household
since Christmas ?”
Marmaduke again raised his eyes, but continued silent, shak-
ing his head in the negative.
“That he is a half-breed we know, for Mohegan does not
scruple to call bim openly his kinsman; that he is well edu-
cated we know. But as to his business here—do you remem-
ber 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
earry their grain to mill in, and to take out something with
great care, that he had covered up under his bear-skins. Now
let me ask vou. Judge Temple, what motive could induce a
352 THE PIONEERS.
man like the Leather-stocking to make a sled, and toil with a
load over these mountains, if he had nothing but his rifle or
his ammunition to carry ?”
“They frequently make these jumpers to convey their game
home, and you say he had been absent many days.”
“How did he kill it? His rifle was in the village, to be
mended. No, no—that he was gone to some unusual place is
certain; that he brought back some secret utensils is more cer-
tain; and that he has not allowed a soul to approach his hut
since, is most certain of all.”
“He was never fond of intruders
“T know it,” interrupted Richard; “but did he drive them
from his cabin morosely? Within a fortnight of his return,
this Mr. Edwards appears. They spend whole days in the
mountains, pretending to be shooting, but in reality exploring ;
_ the frosts prevent their digging ‘at that time, and he avails
himself of a lucky accident to get into good quarters. But even
now, he is quite half of his time in that hut—many hours every
night. They are smelting, ’duke, they are smelting, and as
they grow rich, you grow poor.”
“How much of this is thine own, Richard, and how much
comes from others? I would sift the wheat from the chaff.”
“ Part is my own, for I saw the jumper, though it was broken
up and burnt in a day or two. I have told you that I saw the
old man with his spades and picks. Hiram met Natty, as he
was crossing the mountain, the night of his arrival with the
sled, and very good-naturedly offered—Hiram és good-natured
—to carry up part of his load, for the old man had a heavy
pull up the back of the mountain, but he wouldn’t listen to the
thing, and repulsed the offer in such a manner that the Squire
said he had half a mind to swear the peace against him. Since
the snow has been off, more especially after the frosts got out
of the ground, we have kept a watchful eye on the gentleman,
in which we have found Jotham useful.”
Marmaduke did not much like the associates of Richard in
this business ; still he knew them to be cunning and ready in
bP]
THE PIONEERS. 353
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 circumstances that tended to corroborate
these suspicions, and, as the whole business favored one of his
infirmities, he yielded the more readily to their impression. The
mind of Judge Temple, at all times comprehensive, had received,
from his peculiar occupations, a bias to look far into futurity,
in his speculations on the: improvements that posterity were to
make in his lands. To his eye, where others saw nothing but
a wilderness, towns, manufactories, bridges, canals, mines, and
all the other resources of an old country, were constantly pre-
senting themselves, though his good sense suppressed, in some
degree, the exhibition of these expectations.
As the Sheriff allowed his cousin full time to reflect on what
he had heard, the probability of some pecuniary adventure being
the connecting link in the chain that brought Oliver Edwards -
into the cabin of Leather-stocking, appeared to him each
moment to be stronger. But Marmaduke was too much in
the habit of examining both sides of a subject, not to perceive
the objections, and he reasoned with himself aloud :—
“Tt cannot be so, or the youth would not be driven so near
the verge of poverty.”
“What so likely to make a man dig for money, as being
poor ?” cried the Sheriff,
“ Besides, there is an elevation of character about Oliver, that
proceeds from education, which would forbid so clandestine a
proceeding.”
“Could an ignorant fellow smelt ?” continued Richard.
“Bess hints that he was reduced even to his last shilling,
when we took him into our dwelling.”
“ He had been buying tools. And would he spend his last
sixpence for a shot at a turkey, had he not known where to get
more $”
“Gan I have possibly been so long a dupe! His manner
354 THE PIONEERS.
has been rude to me at times; but I attributed it to his con-
ceiving 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 ?” |
“Tf he were bent on deception, he would have concealed his
knowledge, and passed with us for an inferior man.”
“He cannot. I could no more pass for a fool, myself, than I
could fly. Knowledge is not to be concealed, like a candle
under a bushel.”
“Richard,” said the Judge, turning to his cousin, “ there are
many reasons against the truth of thy conjectures; but thou
hast awakened suspicions which must be satisfied. But why are
we travelling here ”
“ Jotham, who has been much in the mountain latterly, being
kept there by me and Hiram, has made a discovery, which he
will not explain, he says, for he is bound by an oath; but the
amount is, that he knows where the ore lies, and he has this
day begun to dig. JI would not consent to the thing, ’duke,
without your knowledge, for the Jand is yours; and now you
know the reason of our ride. I call this a countermine, ha !”
“And where is the desirable spot?” asked the Judge, with
an air half comical, half serious.
“ At hand; and when we have visited that, I will show you
one of the places that we have found within a week, where our
hunters have been amusing themselves for six months past.”
The gentlemen continued to discuss the matter, while their
horses picked their way under the branches of 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
THE PIONEERS. 355
reasons for what he did, and inquired of the Judge what
portion of the profits would fall to his own share, in the event
of success, with an earnestness that proved his faith. After
spending an hour near the place, examining the stones, and
searching for the usual indications of the proximity of ore, the
Judge remounted, and suffered his cousin to lead the way to
the place where the mysterious trio had been making their
excavation.
The spot chosen by Jotham was on the back of the mountain
that overhung the hut of Leather-stocking, and the place
selected by Natty and his companions was on the other side of
the same hill, but above the road, and, of course, in an opposite
direction to the route taken by the ladies in their walk.
“We shall be safe in approaching the place now,” said
Richard, while they dismounted and fastened their horses;
“for I took a look with the glass, and saw John and Leather-
stocking, in their canoe fishing, before we left home, and Oliver
is in the same pursuit; but these may be nothing but shams,
to blind our eyes, so we will be expeditious, for it would not
be pleasant to be caught here by them.”
“ Not on my own land!” said Marmaduke sternly. “If it be
as you retae I will know their reasons for making this exca-
vation.”
“Mum,” said Richard, laying a finger on his lip, and leading
the way down a very difficult descent to a sort of natural
cavern, which was found in the face of the rock, and was not
unlike a 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 examination of the exterior of
the cavern left the Judge in doubt whether it was one of
nature’s frolics that had thrown it into that shape, or whether
it had been wrought by the hands of man, at some earlier
period. But there could be no doubt that the whole of the
interior was of recent formation, and the marks of the pick were
still visible, where,the soft, lead-colored rock had opposed itself
to the progress of the miners. The whole formed an excava-
4
356 THE PIONEERS.
tion of about twenty feet in width, and nearly twice that dis-
tance in depth. The height was much greater than was
required for the ordinary purposes of experiment; but this was
evidently the effect of chance, as the roof of the cavern was a
natural stratum of rock, that projected many feet beyond the
base of the pile. Immediately in front of the recess, or cave,
was a little terrace, partly formed by nature, and partly by the
earth that had been carelessly thrown aside by the laborers.
The mountain fell off precipitously in front of the terrace, and
the approach by its sides, under the ridge of the rocks, was dif
ficult and a little dangerous. The whole was wild, rude, and
apparently incomplete: for, while looking among the’ bushes,
the Sheriff found the very implements that had been used in
the work.
When the Sheriff thought that his cousin had examined the
spot sufficiently, he asked solemnly—
“Judge Temple, are you satisfied ?”
“Perfectly, that there is something mysterious and perplex-
ing in this business. It is a secret spot, and cunningly devised,
Richard ; yet I see no symptoms of ore.”
“ Do you expect, sir, to find gold and silver lying like pebbles
on the surface of the earth?—dollars and dimes ready coined
to your hands! * No, no—the treasure must be sought after to
be won. But let them mine; I shall countermine.”
The Judge took an accurate survey of the place, and noted
in his memorandum book such marks as were necessary to find
it again, in the event of Richard’s absence; when the cousins
returned to their horses.
On reaching the highway they separated, the Sheriff to
summon twenty-four “good men and true,” to attend as the
inquest of the county, on the succeeding Monday, when Mar-
maduke held his stated court of “common pleas and general
sessions of the peace,” and the Judge to return, musing deeply
on what he had seen and heard in the course of the morning.
When the horse of the latter reached the spot where the
highway fell towards the valley, the eye of Marmaduke rested,
THE PIONEERS. 357
it is true, on the same scene that had, ten minutes before, been
so soothing to the feelings of his daughter and her friend, as
they emerged from the forest; but it rested in vacancy. He
threw the reins to his sure-footed beast, and suffered the animal
to travel at its own gait, while he soliloquized as follows :—
“ There may be more in this than I at first supposed. 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
before me, and, by a few direct questions, extract the truth
from the simple old man.”
At that instant the Judge caught a glimpse of the figures of
Elizabeth and Louisa, who were slowly descending the mountain,
a short distance before him. He put spurs to his horse, and
riding up to them, dismounted, and drove his steed along the
narrow path. While the agitated parent was listening to the
vivid description that his daughter gave of her recent danger,
and her unexpected escape, all thoughts of mines, vested rights,
and examinations, were absorbed in emotion; and when the
image of Natty again crossed his recollection, it was not as a
lawless and depredating squatter, but as the preserver of his
child. }
-
358 THE PIONEERS.
CHAPTER XXX.
The court awards it, and the law doth give it.
MERCHANT OF VENICE.
REMARKABLE Perrinonse, who had forgotten the wound
received by her pride, in contemplation of the ease and com-
forts of her situation, and who still retained her station in the
family of Judge Temple, was despatched to the humble dwell-
ing which Richard already styled “ The Rectory,” in attendance
on Louisa, who was soon consigned to the arms of her father.
In the meantime, Marmaduke and his daughter were closeted
for more than an hour, nor shall we invade the sanctuary of
parental love, by relating the conversation. When the curtain
rises on the reader, the Judge is seen walking up and down the
apartment, with a tender melancholy in his air, and his child
reclining on a settee, with a flushed cheek, and her dark eyes
seeming to float in crystals.
“Tt was a timely rescue! it was, indeed, a timely rescue, my
child!” cried the Judge. “Then thou didst not desert thy
friend, my noble Bess ?”
“T believe I may as well take the credit of fortitude,” said
Elizabeth, “ though I much doubt if flight would have availed
me anything, had I even courage to execute such an intention.
But I thought not of the expedient.”
“Of what didst thou think, love? where did thy thoughts
dwell most, at that fearful moment ?”
“The beast! the beast!” cried Elizabeth, veiling her face
with her hand: “ Oh! I saw nothing, I thought of nothing but
the beast. I tried to think of better things, but the horror was
too glaring, the danger too much before my eyes.”
“Well, well, thou art safe, and we will converse no more on
\
THE PIONEERS. 359
unpleasant subject. I did not think such an animal yet
ined in our forests ; but they will stray far from their haunts
_ sen pressed by hunger, and i
A loud knocking at the door of the apartment interrupted
what he was about to utter, and he bid the applicant enter.
The door was opened by Benjamin, who came in with a dis-
contented air, as if he felt that he had a communication to
make that would be out of season.
“ Here is Squire Doolittle below, sir,” commenced the major-
domo. “ He has been standing off and on im the door-yard, for
the matter of a glass; and he has sum’mat on his mind that he
wants to heave up, d’ye see; but I tells him, says I, man,
would you be coming aboard with your complaints, said I,
when the judge has gotten his own child, as it were, out of the
jaws of a lion? But damn the bit of manners has the fellow,
any more than if he was one of them Guineas down in the
‘kitchen there; and so as he was sheering nearer, every stretch
he made towards the house, I could do no better than to let
your honor know that the chap was in the offing.”
“He must have business of importance,” said Marmaduke ;
“something in relation to his office, most probably, as the
court sits so shortly.”
“ Ay, ay, you have it, sir,” cried Benjamin, “it’s sum’mat
about a complaint that he has to make of the old Leather-
stocking, who, to my judgment, is the better man of the two.
It’s a yery 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.” 3
“Against the Leather-stocking !” cried Elizabeth, rising from
her reclining posture.
“Rest easy, my child; some trifle, I pledge you; I believe
I am already acquainted with its import. Trust me, Bess,
your champion shall be safe in my care. Show Mr. Doolittle
in, Benjamin.”
Miss Temple appeared satisfied with this assurance, but
360 THE PIONEERS.
fastened her dark eyes on the person of the architect, who pro-
fited by the permission, and instantly made his appearance.
All the impatience of Hiram seemed to vanish the instant
he entered the apartment. After saluting the Judge and his
daughter, he took the chair to which Marmaduke pointed, and
sat for a minute, composing his straight black hair, with a
gravity of demeanor that was intended to do honor to his
official station. At length he said—
“Tt’s likely, from what I hear, that Miss Temple 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.
“T 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.”
“Tt shall be my care to see that he is rewarded,” returned
the Judge.
“Yes, yes, I rather guess that nobody hereabouts doubts
the Judge’s generosity. Does he know whether the Sheriff
has fairly made up his mind to have a reading-desk or a
deacon’s pew under the pulpit ?”
“T have not heard my cousin speak on that subject, lately,”
replied Marmaduke.
“JT think it’s likely that we will have a pretty dull court
on’t, from what I can gather. I hear that Jotham Riddel
and the man who bought his betterments, have agreed to
leave their difference to men, and I don’t think there'll be
more than two civil cases in the calendar.”
“T am glad of it,” said the Judge; “nothing gives me
more pain than to see my settlers wasting their time and
substance in the unprofitable struggles of the law. I hope
it may prove true, sir.”
“I rather guess ’twill be left out to men,” added Hiram,
with an air equally balanced between doubt and assurance, but
which Judge Temple understood to mean certainty; “I some
think that I am appointed a referee in the case myself;
THE PIONEERS. 861
Jotham as much as told me that he should take me. The
defendant, I guess, means to take Captain Hollister, and we
two have partly agreed on Squire Jones for the third man.”
“ Are there any criminals to be tried ?” asked Marmaduke.
“There’s the counterfeiters,” returned the magistrate; “as
they were caught in the fact, I think it likely that they'll be
indicted, in which ease it’s probable they'll be tried.”
“Certainly, sir, I had forgotten those men. There are no
moie, I hope.”
“ Why, there is a threaten to come forrad with an assault,
taat ha>pened at the last independence day; but I’m not
sartain that the law’ll take hold on’t. There was plaguey
hard words passed, but whether they struck or not I haven’t
heard. There’s some folks talk of a deer or two being killed
out of season, over on the west side of the Patent, by some of
the squatters on the ‘ Fractions.’ ”
“Let a complaint be made, by all means,” cried the Judge,
“T am determined to see the law executed to the letter, on all
such depredators.”
“Why, yes, I thought the Judge was of that mind; I come
partly on such a business myself.”
“You!” exclaimed Marmaduke, comprehending in an in-
stant how completely he had been caught by the other’s
cunning; “and what have you to say, sir ?”
“T some think that Natty Bumppo has the carcase of a
deer in his hut at this moment, and a considerable part of my
business was to get a search-warrant to examine.”
“You think, sir! do you know that the law exacts an oath,
before I can issue such a precept? ‘The habitation of a citizen
is not to be idly invaded on light suspicion.”
“T rather think I can swear to it myself,” returned the im-
movable 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
16
362 THE PIONEERS,
Knowing the Judge set his heart on the thing, I thought it best
that the authority to search should come from himself. Be-
sides, as ’'m much in the woods, among the timber, I don’t
altogether like making an enemy of the Leather-stocking.
Now the Judge has a weight m the county that puts him
above fear.”
Miss Temple turned her face to the callous architect, as she
said—
“ And what has any honest person to dread from so kind a
man as Bumppo 2”
“Why, it’s as easy, Miss, to pull a rifle-trigger on a magis-
trate as on a painter. But if the Judge don’t conclude to
issue the warrant, I must go home and make it out myself”
“ T have not refused your application, sir,” said Marmaduke,
perceiving at once that his reputation for impartiality was at
stake ; “go into my office, Mr. Doolittle, where I will join you,
and sign the warrant.”
Judge Temple stopped the remonstrances which Elizabeth
was about to utter, after Hiram had withdrawn, by laying his
hand on her mouth, and saying—
“Tt is more terrific in sound than frightful in reality, my
child. I suppose that the Leather-stocking has shot a deer,
for the season is nearly over, and you say that he was hunting
with his dogs when he came so timely to your assistance. But
it will be only to examine his cabin, and find the animal, when
you can pay the penalty out of your own pocket, Bess.
Nothing short of the twelve dollars and a half will satisfy this
harpy, I perceive; and surely my reputation as a Judge is
worth that trifle.”
Elizabeth was a good deal pacified with this assurance,
and suffered her father to leave her, to fulfil his promise to
Hiram.
When Marmaduke left his office after executing his disagree-
able duty, he met Oliver Edwards, walking up the gravelled
walk in front of the Mansion-house, with great strides, and with
a face agitated by feeling. On seeing Judge Temple, the
ual
THE PIONEERS. 363
youth turned aside, and with a warmth in his manner that
was not often exhibited to Marmaduke, he eried—
“TI 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,
Pret
But the heart of Marmaduke was too much softened to
adimit of his cavilling at trifles, and without regarding the con-
fusion of the other, he replied—
“T thank thee, thank thee, Oliver; as thou. sayest, it is
almost too horrid to be remembered. But come, let us hasten
to Bess, for Louisa has already gone to the Rectory.”
The young man sprang forward, and throwing open a door,
barely permitted the Judge to precede him, when he was in
the presence of Elizabeth in a moment.
The cold distance that often crossed the demeanor of the
heiress, in her intercourse with Edwards, was now entirely
banished, and two hours were passed by the party, in the free,
unembarrassed, and confiding manner of old and esteemed
friends. Judge Temple had forgotten the suspicions engendered
during his morning’s ride, and the youth and maiden conversed,
laughed, and were sad by turns, as impulse directed. At
length Edwards, after repeating his intention to do so for the
third time, left the Mansion-house to go to the rectory on a
similar errand of friendship.
During this short period, a scene was passing at the hut that
completely frustrated the benevolent intentions of Judge Temple
in favor of the Leather-stocking, and at once destroyed the
short-lived harmony between the youth and Marmaduke.
864 THE PIONEERS.
When Hiram Doolittle had obtained his search-warrant, his
first business was to procure a proper officer to see it executed.
The sheriff was absent, summoning in person the grand inquest
for the county; the deputy, who resided in the village, was
riding on the same errand, in a different part of the settlement ;
and the regular constable of the township had been selected for
his station from motives of charity, being lame of a leg.
Hiram intended to accompany the officer as a spectator, but he
felt no very strong desire to bear the brunt of the battle. It
was, however, Saturday, and the sun was already turning the
shadows of the pines towards the east ; on the morrow the con-
scientious magistrate could not engage in such an expedition at
the peril of his soul; and long before Monday, the venison, and
all vestiges of the death of the deer, might be secreted or
destroyed. Happily, the lounging form of Billy Kirby met his
eye, and Hiram, at all times fruitful in similar expedients, saw
his way clear at once. -Jotham, who was associated in the
whole business, and who had left the mountain in consequence
of a summons from his coadjutor, but who failed, equally with
Hiram, in the unfortunate particular of nerve, was directed to
summon the wood-chopper to the dwelling of the magistrate.
When Billy appeared, he was very kindly invited to take the
chair in which he had already seated himself, and was treated
in all respects as if he were an equal.
“Judge Temple has set his heart on putting the deer law in
force,” said Hiram, after the preliminary civilities were over,
“and a complaint has been laid before him that a deer has
been killed. He has issued a search-warrant, and sent for me
to get somebody to execute it.”
Kirby, who had no idea of being excluded from the delibera-
tive 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 ?”
THE PIONEERS. 365
“Both gone on the\skirts of the Patent.”
“But I saw the constable hobbling about town an_ hour
ago.” :
“Yes, yes,” said Hiram with a coaxing smile and knowing
nod, “ but this business wants a man—not. a cripple.”
“Why,” said Billy, laughing, “will the chap make fight ?”
“ He’s a little quarrelsome at times, and thinks he’s the best
man in the country at rough and tumble.”
“TI heard him brag once,” said Jotham, “that there wasn’t a
man ’twixt the Mohawk Flats and the Pennsylvany line that
was his match at a close hug.”
“Did you?” exclaimed Kirby, raising his huge frame in his
seat, like a lion stretching in his lair; “I rather guess he never
felt a Varmounter’s knuckles on his backbone. But who is the
chap ?”
“ Why,” said Jotham, “ it’s ¥
“Tt’s ag’in law to tell,” interrupted Hiram, “ unless you'll
qualify to sarve. You'd be the very man to take him, Bill;
~and T’ll make out a special deputation in a minute, when you
will get the fees.”
“ What's the fees?” said Kirby, laying his large hand on
the leaves of a statute-book, that Hiram had opened in order
to give dignity to his office, which he turned over, in his rough
manner, as if he were reflecting on a subject about which he
had, in truth, already decided; “will they pay a man for a
broken head 2” 3
“They'll be something handsome,” said Hiram.
“Damn the fees,” said Billy, again laughing :—‘“does the.
fellow think he’s the best wrestler in the county, though? what’s
his inches ?”
“He’s taller than you be,” said Jotham, “and one of the
_ biggest “
Talkers, he was about to add, but the impatience of Kirby
interrupted him. The wood-chopper had nothing fierce or even
brutal in his appearance ; the character of his expression was
that of good-natured vanity. It was evident he prided himself
866 THE PIONEERS.
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 downwards, he said, keeping his eyes fastened on his own
bones and sinews—
“Come, give us a touch of the book. Tl swear, and you'll
see that ’m a man to keep my oath.”
Hiram did not give the wood-chopper time to change his
mind, but the oath was administered without unnecessary delay.
So soon as this preliminary was completed, the three worthies
left the house, and proceeded by the nearest road towards the
hut. They had reached the bank of the lake, and were diverg-
ing from the route of the highway, before Kirby recollected that
he was now entitled to the privilege of the initiated, and
repeated his question as to the name of the offender.
“Which way, which way, Squire?” exclaimed the hardy
wood-chopper; “I thought it was to search a house that you
wanted me, not the woods. ‘There is nobody lives on this side
of the lake, for six miles, unless you count the Leather-stocking
and old John for settlers. Come, tell me the chap’s name, and
I warrant me that I lead you to his clearing by a straighter
path than this, for I know every sapling that grows within two
miles of Templetown.”
“This is the way,” said Hiram, pointing forward and quick-
ike his step, as if ae that Kirby would: desert,
“and Bumppo is the man,’
Kirby stopped short, and looked from one of his companions
to the other in astonishment. He then burst into a loud
laugh, and cried—
“Who? Leather-stocking ! he may brag of his aim and his
rifle, for he has the best of both, as I will own myself, for sin’
he shot the pigeon I knock under to him; but for a wrestle !
why, I would take the creatur’ between my finger and thumb,
and tie him in a bow-knot around my neck for aBarcelony. The
man is seventy, and was never anything particular for strength.”
“ He’s a deceiving man,” said Hiram, “like all the hunters;
he is stronger than he seems ; besides, he has his rifle.”
THE PiONEERS. 867
“That for his rifle!” cried Billy: “he'd no more hurt me
with his rifle than he’d fly.. He is a harmless 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, “ anybody may
shoot a deer.”
“This is the man’s calling, I tell you, bteutined Kirby, “ and
the law was never made for such as he.”
“The law was made for all,” observed Hiram, who began to
think that the danger was likely to fall to his own share, not-
withstanding his management; “and the law is particular in
noticing parjury.”
“See here, Squire Doolittle,” said the reckless wood-chopper ;
“] don’t care the valie of a beetlering for you and your parjury
too. But as I have come so far, I'll go down and have a
talk with the old man, and maybe we'll fry a steak a the deer
together.”
“Well, if you can get in peaceably, so much the better,” said
the magistrate. “To my notion, strife is very HD ca I
prefar, at all times, clever conduct to an ugly temper.”
As the whole party moved at a great pace, they soon reached
the hut, where Hiram thought it prudent to halt on the outside
of the top of the fallen pine, which formed a chevaux-de-frise,
to defend the approach to the fortress, on the side next the
village. The delay was little relished by Kirby, who clapped
his hands to his mouth, and gave a loud halloo that brought
the dogs out of their kennel and, almost at the same instant,
the scantily covered head of Natty from the door.
“Lie down, old fool,” cried the hunter ; 5 ot ‘do you think there’s
more painters about you ? !
“Hat 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,
368 THE PIONEERS.
stepping across his threshold, and raising his hand over his
eyes to screen them from the rays of the setting sun, while he
took a survey of his visitor. “I’ve no land to clear; and
heaven knows I would set out six trees afore I would cut down
one. Down, Hector, I say; into your kennel with ye.”
“ Would you, old boy?” roared Billy ; “then so much the
better for me. But I must do my arrand. Here’s a letter for
you, Leather-stocking. If you can read it, it’s all well, and if
you can’t, here’s Squire Doolittle at hand, to let you know what
it means. It seems you mistook the twentieth of July for the
first of August, that’s all.”
By this time Natty had discovered the lank person of Hiram,
drawn up under the cover of a high stump; and all that was
complacent in his manner instantly gave way to marked distrust
and dissatisfaction. He placed his head within the door of his
hut, and said a few words in an under tone, when he again
appeared, and continued—
“T’ve nothing for ye; so away, afore the evil one tempts me
to do you harm. I owe you no spite, Billy Kirby, and what
for should you trouble an old man, who has done you no
harm?” |
Kirby advanced through the top of the pine, to within a few
feet of the hunter, where he seated himself on the end of a log’
with great composure, and began to examine the nose of Hec-
tor, with whom he was familiar, from their frequently meeting
in the woods, where he sometimes fed the dog from his own
basket of provisions. :
“You've outshot me, and I’m not ashamed to say it,” said
the wood-chopper; “but I don’t owe you a grudge for that,
Natty ! though it seems that you’ve shot once too often, for the
story goes that you've killed a buck.”
“T’ve fired but twice to-day, and both times at the painters,”
returned the Leather-stocking ; “see, here are the scalps! I was
Just going in with them to the Judge’s to ask the bounty.”
While Natty was speaking, he tossed the ears to Kirby, who
continued playing with them, with a careless air, holding them
THE PIONEERS. 369
to the dogs, and laughing at their movements when they scented
the unusual game.
But Hiram, emboldened by the advance of the deputed con-
stable, now ventured to approach also, and took up the discourse
with the air of authority that became his commission. His
first measure was to read the warrant aloud, taking care to give
due emphasis to the most material parts, and concluding with
the name of the Judge in very audible and distinct tones.
“Did Marmaduke Temple put his name to that bit of
paper ?” said Natty, shaking his head ;—“ well, well, that man
loves the new ways, and his betterments, and his lands, afore
his own flesh and blood. But I won’t mistrust the gal: she
has an eye like a full-grown buck! poor thing, she didn’t choose
her father, and can’t help it. I know but little of the law,
Mr. Doolittle; what is to be done, now you’ve read your com-
mission ?”
“Oh! it’s nothing but form, Natty,” said Hiram, endeavor-
ing to assume a friendly aspect. “ Let’s go in, and talk the
thing over in reason; I dare to say that the money can be
easily found, and I partly conclude, from what passed, that
Judge Temple will pay it himself.”
The old hunter had kept a keen eye on the movements of his
three visitors, ftom the beginning, and had maintained his posi-
tion, just without the threshold of his cabin, with a determined
manner, that showed he was not to be easily driven from his
post. When Hiram drew nigher, as if expecting his proposi-
tion would be accepted, Natty lifted his hand, and motioned for
him to retreat. |
“ Haven’t I told you more than once, not to tempt me?” he
said. “I trouble no man; why can’t the law leave me to
myself? Go back—go back, and tell your Judge that he may
keep his bounty; but I won’t have his wasty ways brought into
my hut.”
This offer, however, instead of appeasing the curiosity of
Hiram, seemed to inflame it the more; while Kirby cried—
“Well, that’s fair, squire ; he forgives the county his demard,
370 THE PIONEERS.
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.”
“T demand entrance into this house,” said Hiram, summon-
ing all the dignity he could muster to his assistance, “in the
name of the people ; and by virtue of this warrant, and of my
office, and with this peace-officer.”
“Stand back, stand back, squire, and don’t tempt me,” said
the Leather-stocking, motioning for him to retire, with great
earnestness. att 2
“Stop us at your peril,” continued Hiram. “ Billy ! Jotham !
close up—TI want testimony.”
Hiram had mistaken the mild but determined air of Natty
for submission, and had already put his foot on the threshold to
enter, when he was seized unexpectedly by his shoulders, and
hurled over the little bank towards the lake, to the distance
of twenty feet. The suddenness of the movement, and the
unexpected display of strength on the part of Natty, created
a momentary astonishment in his invaders, that silenced all
noises; but at the next instant Billy Kirby gave vent to
his mirth in peals of laughter, that he seemed to heave up
from his very soul. |
“ Well done, old stub!” he shouted: “the squire 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-chopper.
“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 foot into the
hut.”
While the affair appeared trifling, the wood-chopper seemed
THE PIONEERS. 371
disposed to take sides with the weaker 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 —
“T didn’t come here as your enemy, Leather-stocking ; but I
don’t value the hollow piece’of iron in your hand so much as a
broken axe-helve; so, squire, say the word, and keep within
the law, and we'll soon see who’s the best man of the two.”
But no magistrate was to be seen! The instant the rifle was
produced Hiram and Jotham vanished; and when the wood-
chopper bent his eyes about him in surprise at receiving no
answer, he discovered their retreating figures moving 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 scared the creaters off,” said Kirby, with great con-
tempt expressed on his broad features ; “ but you are not going
to scare me; so, Mr. Bumppo, down with your gun, or there'll
be trouble ’twixt us.”
Natty dropped his rifle, and replied—
“T wish you no harm, Billy Kirby; but I leave it to your
self, whether an old man’s hut is to be run down by such
varmint. I won’t deny the buck to you, Billy, and you may
take the skin in, if you please, and show it as testimony. ue
bounty wil’ pay the fine, and that ought to satisfy any man.’
“Twill, old boy, ’twill,” cried Kirby, every shade of Fi:
sure vanishing from. his open brow at the peace-offering ; “ throw
out the hide, and that shall satisfy the law.”
Natty entered the hut, and soon re-appeared, bringing saith
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 be
would burst into frequent fits of laughter, while he recollected
the summerset of Hiram; and, on the whole, he thought the
affair a very capital joke.
Long before Billy reached the village, however, the news of
872 THE PIONEERS.
his danger, and of Natty’s disrespect of the law, and of Hiram’s
discomfiture, were in circulation. A good deal was said about.
sending for the Sheriff; some hints were given about calling
out the posse comitatus to avenge the insulted laws ; and many
of the citizens were collected, deliberating how to proceed.
The arrival of Billy with the skin, by removing all grounds for
a search, changed the complexion of things materially.
Nothing now remained but to collect the fine, and assert the
dignity of the people; all of which, it was unanimously agreed,
could be done as well on the succeeding Monday as on
Saturday night,—a time kept sacred by a large portion of the
settlers. Accordingly, all further proceedings were suspended
for six-and-thirty hours.
RG
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Te 2 “ PSN
ss]! RES SS = : ts “Sthacys wt
THE PIONEERS. ; 3,5
CHAPTER XXXI.
_ And dar’st thou then
To beard the lion in his den
The Douglass in his hall ?
MARMION.
THE cominotion was just subsiding, and the inhabitants 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, encountered the young
lawyer, who is known to the reader as Mr. Lippet. There was
very little similarity in the manners or opinions of the two;
but as they both belonged to the more intelligent class of a
very small community, they were, of course, known to each.
other, and as their meeting was at a point where silence
would have been rudeness, the following conversation was the
result of their interview :—
“A fine evening, Mr.. Edwards,” commenced the lawyer,
whose disinclination to the dialogue was, to say the least, very
doubtful; “we want rain sadly; that’s the worst of this
climate of ours, it’s either a drought or a deluge. It’s likely
you've been used to a more equal temperature ?”
“T am a native of this state,” returned Edwards, coldly.
“Well, Pve often heard that point disputed; but it’s so
- easy to get a man naturalized, that it’s of little consequence
where he was born. I wonder what course the Judge means to
take in this business of Natty Bnmppo !”
“Of Natty Bumppo!” echoed Edwards; “to what do you
allude, sir 2”
“Haven’t you heard !” exclaimed the other, with a look of
ids
14 THE PIONEERS.
surprise, so naturally assumed, as completely to deceive his
auditor ; “it may turn out an ugly business. It seems that the
old man has been out in the hills, and has shot a buck this
morning, and that, you know, is a criminal matter in the eyes
of Judge Temple.”
“Ot! he has, has he ?” said Edwards, averting his face to
conceal the color that collected in his sun-burnt cheek. “ Well,
if that be all, he must even pay the fine.”
“Tt’s five pounds currency,” said the lawyer; “could Natty
muster so much money at once ?”
“ Could he !” cried the youth. “Iam not rich, Mr. Lippet ;
far from it—I am poor, and I have been hoarding my salary
for a purpose that lies near my heart; but before that old man
should lie one hour in a jail, I would spend the last cent to
prevent it. Besides, he has killed two panthers, and the bounty
will discharge the fine many times over.”
“Yes, yes,” said the lawyer, rubbing his hands together, with
an expression of pleasure that had no artifice about it; “we
shall make it out ; I see plainly we shall make it out.”
“ Make what out, sir? I must beg an explanation.”
“Why, killing the buck is but a small matter compared to
what took place this afternoon,” continued Mr. Lippet, with a
confidential and friendly air, that insensibly won upon the youth,
little as he liked the man. “It seems that a complaint was
made of the fact, and a suspicion that there was venison in the
hut was sworn to, all which is provided for in the statute, when
Judge Temple granted a search-warrant a
“ A search-warrant !” echoed Edwards, in a voice of horror.
and with a face that should have been again averted to conceal
ita paleness ; “and how much did they discover? What did
they see ?”
“They saw old Bumppo’s rifle; and that is a sight which
will quiet most men’s curiosity in the woods.”
“Did they! did they !” shouted Edwards, bursting into a
convulsive laugh ; “so the old hero beat them back !—he beat
them back! did he ?”
THE PIONEERS. ~ 375
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—
“Tt’s no laughing matter, let me tell you, sir; the forty
dollars of bounty, and your six mouths of salary, will be much
reduced before you can get the matter fairly settled. Assault-
ing a magistrate in the execution of his duty, and menacing a
constable with fire-arms at the sane time, is a pretty serious
affair, and is punishable with both fine and imprisonment.”
“Imprisonment !” repeated Oliver; “imprison the Leather-
stocking! no, no, sir; it would bring the old man to his grave.
They shall never imprison the Leather-stocking.”
“Well, Mr. Edwards,” said Lippet, dropping all reserve from
his manner, “ you are called a curious man; but if you can tell
me how a jury is to be prevented from finding a verdict of
guilty, if this case comes fairly before them, and the proof is
clear, I shall acknowledge that you know more law than I do,
who have had a license in my pocket for three years.”
By this time the reason of Edwards was getting the
ascendency of his feelings, and as he began to see the real
difficulties of the case, he listened more readily to the conversa-
tion of the lawyer. The ungovernable emotion that escaped
the youth, in the first moments of his surprise, entirely passed
away ; and although it was still evident that he continued to
be much agitated by what he had heard, he succeeded in
yielding forced attention to the advice which the other uttered.
Notwithstanding the confused state of his mind, Oliver soon
discovered that most of the expedients of the lawyer were
grounded in cunning, and plans that required a time to execute
them that neither suited his disposition nor his necessities. After,
however, giving Mr. Lippet to understand that he retained him
in the event of a trial, an assurance that at once satisfied the
lawyer, they parted, one taking his course, with a deliberate
tread, in the direction of the little building that had a wooden
sion over its door, with “Chester Lippet, Attorney at Law,”
painted on it; and the other pacing over the ground with
376 . THE PIONEERS.
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 enormous doors Were
opened to the passage of the air of a mild evening, he found
Benjamin engaged in some of his domestic avocations, and in a
hurried voice inquired where Judge Temple was to be found.
“ Why, the Judge has stept into his office, with that master
carpenter, Mister Doolittle; but Miss Lizzy is in that there
parlor. I say, Master Oliver, we'd like to have had a bad job
of that panther, or painter’s work—some calls it one, and
some calls it t’other—but I know little of the beast, seeing
that it is not of British growth. I said as much as that it was
in the hills the last winter; for I heard it moaning on the lake
shore one evening in the fall, when I was pulling down from
the fishing point in the skiff. Had the animal come into open
water, where a man could see where and how to work his
vessel, I would have engaged the thing myself; but looking
aloft among the trees is all the same to me as standing on the
deck of one ship, and locking at another vessel’s tops. I never
can tell one rope from another ?
“Well, well,” interrupted Edwards ; “ I must see Miss Temple.”
“ And you shall see her, sir,” said the steward ; “she’s in this
here room. Lord, Master Edwards, what a loss she’d have
been to the Judge! Dam’me if I know where he would have
gotten such another daughter ; that is, full grown, d’ye see. I
say, sir, this Master Bumppo is a worthy man, and seems to
have a handy way with him, with 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 fellow,” cried
Edwards, squeezing his hand convulsively: “we may want
your friendship, in which case you shall know it.”
Without waiting to hear the earnest reply that Benjamin
meditated, the youth extricated himself from the vigorous grasp
of the steward, and entered the parlor.
,
THE PIONEERS. 3%
Elizabeth was alone, and still reclining on the sofa, where we
last left her. A hand, which exceeded all that the ingenuity
of art could model, in shape and color, veiled her eyes; and
the maiden was sitting as if in deep communion with herself.
Struck by the attitude and loveliness of the form that met his
eye, the young man checked his impatience, and approached
her with respect and caution.
“Miss Temple—Miss Temple,” he said, “I hope I do not
intrude ; but I am anxious for an interview, if it be only for a
moment.”
Elizabeth raised her face, and exhibited her dark eyes swim-
ming in moisture.
“Ts it you, Edwards?” she said, with a sweetness in her
voice, and a softness in her air, that she often used to her
father, but which, from its novelty to himself, thrilled on every
nerve of the youth; “ how left you our poor Louisa ?”
“She is with her father, happy and grateful,” said Oliver.
“TI never witnessed more feeling than she manifested, when I
ventured to express my pleasure at her escape. Miss Temple,
when I first heard of your horrid situation, my feelings were too
powerful for utterance ; and I did not properly find my tongue,
until the walk to Mr. Grant’s had given me time to collect
myself. I believe—lI do believe, I acquitted myself better there,
for Miss Grant even wept at my silly speeches.”
For a moment Elizabeth did not reply, but again veiled her
eyes with her hand. The feeling that caused the action, how-
ever, soon passed away, and, raising her face again to his gaze,
she continued, with a smile—
“Your friend, the Leather-stocking, has now become my
friend, Edwards; I have been thinking how I can best serve
him; perhaps you, who know his habits and his wants so well,
can tell me
“T can,” cried the youth, with an impetuosity that startled
his companion—“ I can, and may Heaven reward you for the
wish. Natty has been so imprudent as to forget the law, and
has this day killed a deer. Nay, I believe I must share in the
378 THE PIONEERS.
crime and the penalty, for I was an accomplice throughout. A
complaint has been made to your father, and he has granted a
search " |
~“T know it all,” interrupted Elizabeth ; “I know it all. The
forms of the law must be complied with, however ; the search
must be made, the deer found, and the penalty paid. But J
must retort your own question. Have you lived so long in our
family not to know us? Look at me, Oliver Edwards. Do I
appear like one who would permit the man that has just saved
her life to linger in a jail for so small a sum as this fine? No,
no, sir; my father is a Judge, but he is a man and a Christian.
t is all understood, and no harm shall follow.”
“What a load of apprehension do your declarations remove !”
exclaimed Edwards. “He shall not be disturbed again ! ‘your
father will protect him! I have your assurance, Miss patie
that he will, and I must believe it.” :
“You may have his own, Mr. Edwards,” returned Elizabeth,
“for here he comes to make it.”
But the appearance of Marmaduke, who entered the apart-
ment, contradicted the flattering anticipations of his daughter.
His brow was contracted, and his manner disturbed. Neither
Elizabeth nor the youth spoke; but the Judge was allowed to
pace once or twice across the room without interruption, when
he cried—
“Our plans are defeated, girl; the obstinacy of the Leather-
stocking has brought down the indignation of the law on his
head, and it is now out of my power to avert it”
“How? in what manner?” cried Elizabeth; “the fine is
nothing ; surely ‘
“T did not—I could not anticipate that an old, a friendless
man like him, would dare to oppose the officers of justice,”
interrupted the Judge; “I supposed that he would submit to
the search, when the fine could have been paid, and the law would
have been appeased ; but now he will have to meet its rigor.”
“ And what must the punishment be, sir?” asked Edwards,
struggling to speak with firmness.
THE PIONEERS. 800
Marmaduke turned quickly to the ot where the youth had
withdrawn, and exclaimed—
“You here! I did not observe you. I know not what it
will be, sir; it is not usual for a Judge to decide, until he has
heard the testimony, and the jury have convicted. Of one
thing, however, you may be assured, Mr. Edwards ; it shall be
whatever the law demands, notwithstanding any momentary
weakness I may have exhibited, because the luckless man has
been of such eminent service to my daughter.”
“No one, I believe, doubts the sense of justice which Judge
Temple entertains !” returned Edwards bitterly. “ But let us
converse calmly, sir. Will not the years, the habits, nay, the
ignorance of my old friend, avail him anything against this
charge 2”
“Ought they? They may extenuate, but can they acquit?
Would any society be tolerable, young man, where the minis-
ters of justice are to be opposed by men armed with rifles? Is
it for this that I have tamed the wilderness ?”
“Wad you tamed the beasts that so lately threatened the
life of Miss Temple, sir, your arguments would apply better.”
“ Kdwards !” exclaimed Elizabeth
“Peace, my child,” interrupted the father; “the youth is
unjust; but I have not given him cause. I overlook thy
remark, Oliver, for I know thee to be the friend of N atty, and
zeal in his behalf has overcome thy discretion.”
“Yes, he is my friend,” cried Edwards, “and I glory in the
title. He is simple, unlettered, even ignorant; prejudiced, per-
haps, though I feel that his opinion of the world is too true;
but he has a heart, Judge Temple, that would atone for a
thousand faults; he roa his friends, and never deserts them,
even if it be fis: dog.”
“This is a good character, Mr. Edwards,” returned Marma-
duke, mildly; “ but I have never been so fortunate as to secure
his esteem, for to me he has been uniformly repulsive; yet I
have endured it, as an old man’s whim. However, when he
appears before me, as his Judge, he shall find that his former
259 THE PIONEERS.
conduct shall not aggravate, any more than his recent services
shall extenuate, his crime.”
“Crime !” echoed Edwards ; “is it a crime to drive a prying
miscreant from his door? Crime! Oh, no, sir; if there be a
criminal involved in this affair, it is not he.”
“And who may it be, sir?” asked Judge Temple, facing the
agitated youth, his features settled to their usual composure.
This appeal was more than the young man could bear.
Uitherto he had been deeply agitated by his emotions; but now
the voleano burst its boundaries.
“Who! and this to me!” he cried; “ask your own con-
science, Judge Temple. Walk to that door, sir, and look out
upon the valley, that placid lake, and those dusky mountains,
and say to your own heart, if heart you have, Whence came
these riches, this vale, those hills, and why am I their owner ?
I should think, sir, that the appearance of Mohegan and the
Leather-stocking, stalking through the country, impoverished
and forlorn, would wither your sight.”
Marmaduke heard this burst of passion, at first, with deep
amazement: but when the youth had ended, he beckoned to
his impatient daughter for silence, and replied—
“Oliver Edwards, thou forgettest in whose presence thou
standest. I have heard, young man, that thou claimest descent ’
from the native owners of the soil; but surely thy education has
been given thee to no effect, if it has not taught thee the
validity of the claims that have transferred the title to the
whites. These lands are mine by the very grants of thy ances-
try, if thou art so descended; and I appeal to Heaven for a
testimony of the uses I have put them to. After this language,
we must separate. I have too long sheltered thee in my dwell-
ing; but the time has arrived when thou must quit it. Come
to my office, and I will discharge the debt I owe thee. Neither
shall thy present intemperate language mar thy future fortunes,
if thou wilt hearken to the advice of one who is by many years
thy senior.” ; '
The ungovernable feeling that caused the violence of the
THE PIONEERS. 881
youth had passed away, and he stood gazing after the retiring
figure of Marmaduke, with a vacancy in his eye that denoted
the absence of his mind. At length he recollected himself, and,
turning his head slowly around the apartment, he beheld Eliza-
beth, still seated on the sofa, but with her head dropped on her
bosom, and her face again conccaled by her hands.
“Miss Temple,” he said—all violence had left his manner—
“Miss Temple—I have forgotten myself—forgotten you. You
have heard what your father has decreed, and this night I leave
here. With you, at least, I would -part in amity.”
‘Elizabeth slowly raised her face, across which a momentary
expression of sadness stole; but as she left her seat, her dark
eyes lighted with their usual fire, her cheek flushed to burning,
and her whole air seemed to belong to another nature.
“T 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 sf
“Of you! never!” interrupted the youth : “I—”
“T would speak, sir, and not listen. There is something in
this affair that I do not comprehend; but tell the Leather-
stocking he has friends as well as judges in us. Do not let the
old man experience unnecessary uneasiness at this rupture. It
is impossible that you could increase his claims here; neither
shall they be diminished by anything you have said. Mr.
Edwards, I wish you happiness, and warmer friends.”
The youth would have spoken, but she vanished from the
door so rapidly, that when he reached the hall her form was no-
where to be seen. He paused a moment, in stupor, and then,
rushing from the house, instead of following Marmaduke to his
“office,” he took his way directly for the cabin of the hunters.
38Y THE PIONEERS.
CHAPTER XXXII
‘¢ Who measured earth, described the starry spheres,
And traced the long records of lunar years.” Pope,
RicHarp did not return from the exercise of his official duties,
until late in the evening of the following day. It had been
one portion of his business to superintend the arrest of part of
a gano“of counterfeiters, that had, even at that early period,
buried themselves in the woods, to manufacture their base coin,
which they afterwards circulated from one end of the Union to
the other. The expedition had been completely successful, and
about midnight the Sheriff entered the village, at the head of
a posse of deputies and constables, in the centre of whom rode,
pinioned, four of the malefactors. At the gate of the Mansion-
house they separated, Mr. Jones directing his assistants to pro-
ceed with their charge to the county jail, while he pursued his
own way up the gravelled walk, with the kind of self-satisfac-
tion that a man of his organization would feel, who had really,
for once, done a very clever thing.
“Holla! Aggy!’ shouted the Sheriff, when he reached the
door; “ where are you, you black dog? will you keep me here
in the dark all night? Holla! Aggy! Brave! Brave! hoy,
hoy—where have you got to, Brave? Off his watch! 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 as 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 honest man or
not. He could tell by his nose, almost as well as I could my-
self by looking at them. Holla! you Agamemnon! where are
you? Oh! here comes the dog at last.”
THE PIONEERS. 383°
By this time the Sheriff had dismounted, and observed a
form, which he supposed to be that of Brave, slowly creeping
out of the kennel; when, to his astonishment, it reared itself on
two legs instead of four, and he was able to distinguish, by the
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 blubber-
ing 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 2
Here the feelings of the negro completely got the mastery,
and instead. of making any intelligible explanation of the causes
of his grief, he blubbered aloud.
“Eh! what! buried! grave! dead!” exclaimed Richard,
with a tremor in his voice; “nothing serious? Nothing has
happened to Benjamin, I hope? I know he has been bilious :
but I gave him i eo
“Oh! worser ’an dat! worser ’an dat!” sobbed the negro,
“Oh! de Lor! Miss *Lizzy an’ Miss Grant—walk—mountain
—poor Bravy !—kill a lady—painter—Oh! Lor, Lor !—Natty
Bumppo—tare he troat. open—come a see, masser Richard—
here he be—here he be.”
As .all this was perfectly inexplicable to the Sheriff, he was
very glad to wait patiently until the black brought a lantern
from the kitchen, when he followed Aggy to the kennel, where
he beheld poor Brave, indeed, lying. in his blood, stiff and cold,
but decently covered with the great-coat of the negro. He was
on the point of demanding an explanation ; but the grief of the |
black, who had fallen asleep on his voluntary watch, having
burst out afresh on his waking, utterly disqualified the lad from
giving one. Luckily, at this moment the principal door of the
384 THE PIONEERS.
house opened, and the coarse features of Benjamin were thrust
over the threshold, with a candle elevated above them, shedding
its dim rays around in such a manner as to exhibit the lights
and shadows of his countenance. Richard threw his bridle to
the black, and bidding him look to the horse, he entered the
hall.
“What is the meaning of the dead dog?” he 2s
“ Where is Miss Temple ?”
Benjamin made one of his square gestures, with the thumb
of his left hand pointing over his right shoulder, as he
answered—
“Turned in.”
“Judge Temple—where is he 2”
“Tn his berth.”
“But explain; why is Brave dead? and what is the cause
of Agey’s grief ?”
“Why, it’s all down, Squire,” said Benjamin, pointing to a
slate that lay on the table, by the side of a mug of toddy, a
short pipe, in which the tobacco was yet burning, and a Prayer-
book.
Among the other pursuits of Richard, he had a passion to
keep a register of all passing events; and his diary, which was"
written in the manner of a journal, or log-book, embraced not
only such circumstances as affected himself, but observations on
the weather, and all the occurrences of the family, and frequently
of the village. Since his appointment to the office of Sheriff,
and his consequent absences from home, he had employed
Benjamin to make memoranda, on a slate, of whatever might
be thought worth remembering, which, on his return, were
regularly transferred to the journal, with proper notations of
the time, manner, and other little particulars. There was, to be
sure, one material objection to the clerkship of Benjamin, which
the ingenuity of no one but Richard could have overcome.
The steward read nothing but his Prayer-book, and that only
in particular parts, and by the aid of a good deal of spelling,
and some misnomers; but he could not form a single letter’
THE PLONEERS. 385
with a pen. This would have been an insuperable bar to jour:
nalizing, with most men; but Richard invented a kind of hiero-
glyphical character, which was intended to note all the ordinary
occurrences of a day, such as how the wind blew, whether the
sun shone, or whether it rained, the hours, &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, that it was to
this chronicle that Benjamin pointed, instead of directly answer-
ing the Sheriff’s interrogatory.
When Mr. Jones had drunk a glass of toddy, he brought forth,
from its secret place, his proper journal, and, seating himself by
the table, he prepared to transfer the contents of the slate to the
paper, at the same time that he appeased his curiosity. Benja-
min 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, cut in one corner of the slate for permanent use.
The cardinal points were plainly marked on it, and all the .
usual divisions were indicated in such a manner, that no man
who had ever steered a ship could mistake them.
“Oh !” said the Sheriff, 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 believe that the
scuttle-butt up aloft is emptied, for there hasn’t so much water
fell in the country, for the last three weeks, as would float Indian
John’s canoe, and that draws just one inch nothing, light.”
“Well, but didn’t the wind change here this morning ?
there was a change where I was.”
“To be sure it did, Squire; and haven’t I logged it as ashilt
of wind.”
“T don’t see where, Benjamin
“Don’t see !” interrupted the steward, a little crustily; “an’t
yy
9
386 THE PIONEERS.
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 ?” ;
“Yes, yes, that is very legible; but where is the change
noted ?”
“Where ! why doesn’t it see this here tea-kettle, with a mark
run from the spout straight, or mayhap a little crooked or so,
into west-and-by-southe-half-southe ? now I call this a shift of
wind, Squire. Well, do you see this here boar’s head that you
made for me, along-side of the compass %
“ Ay, ay—Boreas—I see. Why you’ve drawn lines from its
mouth, extending from one of your marks to the other.”
“Tt’s no fault of mine, Squire Dickens; ’tis your d—d climate.
The wind has been at all them there marks this very day; and
that’s all round the compass, except a little matter of an Irish-
man’s hurricane at meridium, which you'll find marked right up
and down. Now, I’ve known a sow-wester blow for three
weeks, in the channel, with a clean drizzle, in which you might
wash your face and hands, without the trouble of hauling in
water from alongside.”
“Very well, Benjamin,” said the Sheriff, writing in his journal ;
“T 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 lea of
the sermon—one, two, three, four :—-what! did Mr. Grant il
forty minutes ?”
“ Ay, sum’mat like it; it was a good halfhour by my own
glass, and then there was the time lost in turning it, and some
little allowance for leeway in not being over-smart about it.”
“ Benjamin, this is as long as a Presbyterian; you never
could have been ten minutes in turning the glass !” ,
“Why, do you see, Squire, the parson was very solemn, and
- [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
THE PIONEERS. 387
getting under weigh for home, so I calculated the ten minutes
would cover the leeway after the Le was out. It was only
some such matter as a cat’s nap.” 7
“Oh, ho! master Benjamin, you were asleep, were oust but
Pll 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. m2 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 memoranda; “and could you not make
a better glass than this? it looks like a death’s head and an
hour-glass.”
“Why, as I liked the stuff, Squire,” returned the steward, “I
turned in, homeward bound, and took t’other glass, which I set
down at the bottom of the first, and that gives the thing the
shape it has. But as I was there again to-night, and paid for
the three at once, your honor may as well run the sponge over
the whole business.”
“T will buy you a slate for your own affairs, Benjamin,” said
the Sheriff; “I don’t like to have the journal marked over in
this manner.”
“You needn’t—you needn’t, Squire; for seeing that I was
likely to trade often with the woman while this barrel lasted,
[ve opened a fair account with Betty, and she keeps her marks
888 THE P1LONEERS.
on the back of her bar door, and I keeps the tally on this here
bit of a stick.”
As Benjamin concluded he produced a piece of wood, on which
five very large, honest notches were apparent. The Sheriff cast
his eyes on this new ledger for a moment, and continued—
“What have we here! Saturday, two p.m.,—why here’s a
whole family piece! two wine glasses 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; “what have they to do with my journal ?”
“They'd enough to do to get out of the jaws of that there
painter, or panther,” said the immovable steward.
“This here thingum’y, Squire, that maybe looks sum’mat like
a rat, is the beast, d’ye see; and this here tother 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 ih
“ Scarecrow,” interrupted Richard.
“ Ay, mayhap it do look a little wild or so,” continued the
steward; “but to my judgment, Squire, it’s the best image
I’ve made, seeing it’s most like the man himself ;—well that’s
Natty Bumppo, who shot this here painter, that killed that there
dog, who would have eaten or done worse to them here young
ladies.”
“And what the devil does all this mean?” cried Richard,
impatiently.
“ Mean !” echoed Benjamin; “ it is as true as the Boadishey’s
”?
log-book
He was interrupted by the Sheriff, who put a few direct
questions to him, that obtained more intelligible answers, by
which means he became possessed of a tolerably correct idea of
the truth. When the wonder, and, we must do Richard the
justice to say, the feelings also, that were created by this narra
tive, had in some degree subsided, tho Sheriff turned his eyes
a
~
>
THE PIONEERS. 389
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 a
“That’s the Judge and young Master Edwards,” interrupted
the steward, very cavalierly.
“ How! *duke fighting with Oliver! what the devil has got
into you all? more things have happened within the last thirty-
six nours 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. Howsom-
never, they didn’t come to facers, only passed a little jaw fore
and aft.”
“Explain! explain!” cried Richard:—“it was about the
mines, ha!—ay, ay, I see it, I see it; here is a man with a
pick on his shoulder. So you heard it all, Benjamin ?”
“Why, yes, it was about their minds, I believe, Squire,”
returned the steward; “and by what I can learn, they spoke
them pretty plainly to one another. Indeed, I may say that I
overheard a small matter of it myself, seeing that the windows
_ was open, and I hard by. But this here is no pick, but an
anchor on a man’s shoulder; and here’s the other fluke down
his back, maybe a little too close, which signifies that the lad
has got under weigh and left his moorings.”
“Has Edwards left the house 2”
“ He has.”
Richard pursued this advantage ; and, after a long and close
examination, he succeeded in getting out of Benjamin all that
he knew, not only concerning the misunderstanding, but of the
attempt to search the hut,’and Hiram’s discomfiture. The |
Sheriff was no. sooner possessed of these facts, which Benjamin
related with all possible tenderness to the Leather-stocking,
than, snatching up his hat, and bidding the astonished steward
secure the doors and go to his bed, he left the house.
390 THE PIONEERS.
For at least five minutes after Richard disappeared, Benjamin
stood with his arms a-kimbo, and his eyes fastened on the door;
when, having collected his astonished faculties, he prepared to
execute the orders he had received.
It has been already said that the “court of common pleas
and general sessions of the peace,” or, as it is commonly called,
the “county court,” over which Judge Temple presided, held
one of its stated sessions on the following morning. The
attendants of Richard were officers who had come to the
village, as much to discharge their usual duties at this court, as
to-escort the prisoners; and the Sheriff knew their habits too
well, not to feel confident he should find most, if not all of
them, in the public room of the jail, discussing the qualities
of the keeper’s liquors. Accordingly he held his way through
the silent streets of the village, directly to the small and inse-
cure building that contained all the unfortunate debtors, and
some of the criminals of the county, and where justice was
administered to such unwary applicants as were so silly as to
throw away two dollars, in order to obtain one from their
neighbors. The arrival of four malefactors in the custody of
a dozen officers, was an event, at that day, in Templeton; and
when the Sheriff reached the jail, he found every indication
that his subordinates intended to make a night of it. |
The nod of the Sheriff brought two of his deputies to the
door, who in their turn drew off six or seven of the constables.
With this force Richard led the way through the. village,
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 ran
through their own numbers, as a few cautious questions and
answers were exchanged, relative to the object of their expedi-
tion. 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
THE PIONEERS. 39]
up along the shores of the lake, where the plough had not
succeeded the fall of the trees, and soon entered the forest
itself. Here Richard paused, and collected his troop around
him.
“T have required your assistance, my friends,” he said, in a
low voice, “in order to arrest Nathaniel Bumppo, commonly
called the Leather-stocking. He has assaulted a magistrate,
and resisted the execution of a search-warrant, by threatening
the life of a constable with his rifle. In short, my friends, he
has set an example of rebellion to the laws, and has become a
kind of outlaw. He is suspected of other misdemeanors and
offences against private rights; and I have this night taken on
myself, by the virtue of my office of Sheriff, to arrest tke said
Bumppo, and bring him to the county jail, that he may be
present and forthcoming to answer to these heavy charges
before the court to-morrow morning. In executing this duty,
friends and fellow-citizens, you are to use courage and discre-
tion. 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
prudence, that he may not escape from this sudden attack—
and for other good reasons that I need not mention. You will
form yourselves in a complete circle around his hut, and at the
word ‘advance,’ called aloud by me, you will rush forward,
and, without giving the criminal time for deliberation, enter
his dwelling by force, and make him your prisoner. Spread
yourselves for this purpose, while I shall descend to the shore
with a deputy, to take charge of that point ; and all communi-
eations must be made directly to me, under the bank in front
of the hut, where I shall station myself, and remain in order to
receive them.”
This speech, which Richard had been studying during his
walk, had the effect that all similar performances produce, of
bringing the dangers of the expedition immediately before the
eyes of his forces. The men divided, some plunging deeper into
the forest, in order to gain their stations without giving an alarm,
392 THE PIONEERS.
and others continuing to advance, at a gait that would allow
the whole party to go in order: but all devising the best plan
to repulse the attack of a dog, or to escape a rifle bullet. It
was a moment of dread expectation and interest.
When the Sheriff thought time enough had elapsed for the
different divisions of his force to arrive at their stations, he raised
his voice in the silence of the forest, and shouted the 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 acommon consent, when
the curiosity and impatience of the Sheriff getting the complete
ascendency over discretion, he rushed up the bank, and in a
moment stood on the little piece of cleared ground in front of
the spot where Natty had so long lived. To his amazement,
in place of the hut he saw only its smouldering ruins.
The party gradually drew together about the heap of ashes
and the ends of smoking logs ; while a dim flame in the centre
of the ruin, which still found fuel to feed its lingering life, threw
its pale light, flickering with the passing currents of the air,
around the circle,—now showing a face with eyes fixed in
astonishment, and then glancing to another countenance, leaving
the former shaded in the obscurity of night. Not a voice was
raised in inquiry, nor an exclamation made in astonishment.
The transition from excitement to disappointment was too pow-
erful 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 gloom into the circle, treading
down the hot ashes and dying embers with callous feet; and
standing over the light, lifted his cap, and exposed the bare
head and weather-beaten features of the Leather-stocking. For
a moment he gazed at the dusky figures who surrounded him,
more in sorrow than in anger, before he spoke.
THE PIONEERS. 393
“What would ye 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, that
have lived forty long years of my appointed time in this very
spot, from my home and the shelter of my head, lest you should
put your wicked feet and wasty waysin 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
you'rn, 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 up, at midnight, like hungry
hounds on the track of a worn-out and dying deer. What
more would ye have? for Iam here—one too many. I come
to mourn, not to fight; and, if it is God’s pleasure, work your
will on me.”
When the old man ended, he stood, with the light glimmer-
ing around his thinly-covered head, looking earnestly at the
group, which receded from the pile with an involuntary move-
ment, without the reach of the quivering rays, leaving a free
passage for his retreat into the bushes, where pursuit, in the
dark, would have been fruitless. Natty seemed not to regard
this advantage ; but stood facing each individual in the circle
in succession, as if to see who would be the first to arrest him.
After a pause of a few moments, Richard began to rally his
confused faculties; and, advancing, apologized for his duty, and
made him his prisoner. The party now collected; and, pre-
ceded by the Sheriff, with Natty in their centre, they took their
way towards the village.
394 THE PIONEERS.
During the walk, divers questions were put to the prisoner
concerning his reasons for burning the hut, and whither Mohe-
gan had retreated ; but to all of them he observed a profound
silence, until, fatigued with their previous duties, and the late-
ness of the hour, the Sheriff and his followers reached the
village, and dispersed to their several places of rest, after turn-
ing the key of a jail on the aged and apparently friendlees
Leather-stocking.
PHE PIONEERS. 895
CHAPTER XXXII.
Fetch here the stocks, ho !
You stubborn ancient knave, you reverend braggart
We’ll teach you. Lrar.
Tue long days and early sun of July allowed time for a
gathering of the interested, before the little bell of the academy
announced that the appointed hour had arrived for administer-
ing right to the wronged, and punishment to the guilty. Ever
since the dawn of day, the highways and woodpaths that,
issuing from the forests, and winding along the sides of the
mountains, centred in Templeton, had been thronged with
equestrians and footmen, bound to the haven of justice. There
was to be seen a well-clad yeoman, mounted on a sleek, switch
tailed steed, ambling along the highway, with his red> face
elevated in a manner that said, “I have paid for my land, and
fear no man ;” while his bosom was swelling with the pride of
being one of the grand inquest for the county. At his side
rode a companion, his equal in independence of feeling, perhaps,
but his inferior in thrift, as in property and consideration. This
was a professed dealer in lawsuits,—a man whose name appeared
in every calendar,—whose substance, gained in the multifarious:
expedients of a settler’s changeable habits, was wasted in feed-
ing the harpies of the courts. He was endeavoring to impress
ihe mind of the grand juror with the merits of a cause now at
issue. Along with these was a pedestrian, who, having thrown
a rifle frock over his shirt, and placed his best wool hat above
his sun-burnt visage, had issued from his retreat in the woods
by a footpath, and was striving to keep company with the
others, on his way to hear and to decide the disputes of his
neighbors, as a petit juror. Fifty similar little knots of coun-
cad
395 THE PIONEERS. -
trymen might have been seen, on that morning, journeying to-
wards the shire-town on the same errand.
By ten o’clock the streets of the village were filled with busy
faces; some talking of their private concerns, some listening to
a popular expounder of political creeds ; and others gaping in
at the open stores, admiring the finery, or examining scythes,
axes, and such other manufactures as attracted their curiosity
or excited their admiration. A few women were in the crowd,
most carrying infants, and followed, at a lounging, listless gait,
by their rustic lords and masters. There was one young couple,
in whom connubial love was yet fresh, walking at a respectful
distance from each other; while the swain directed the timid
steps of his bride, by a gallant offering of a thumb!
At the first stroke of the bell, Richard issued from the door
of the “ Bold Dragoon,” flourishing a sheathed sword, that he
was fond of saying his ancestors had carried in one of Crom-
well’s victories, and crying, in an authoritative tone, to “clear
the way for the court.” The order was obeyed promptly,
though not servilely, the members of the crowd nodding fami-
larly to the members of the procession as it passed. A party
of constables with their staves followed the Sheriff, preceding
Marmaduke, and four plain, grave-looking yeomen, who were
his associates on the bench. There was nothing to distinguish
these subordinate judges from the better part of the spectators,
except gravity, which they affected a little more than common,
and that one of their number was attired in an old-fashioned
military coat, with skirts that reached no lower than the middle
of his thighs, and. bearing two little silver epaulettes, not half
so big as a modern pair of shoulder-knots. This gentleman
was a colonel of the militia, in attendance on a court-martial,
who found leisure to steal a moment from his military to
attend to his civil jurisdiction; but this incongruity excited
neither notice nor comment. ‘Three or four clean-shaved law-
yers followed, as meekly as if they were lambs going to the
slaughter. One or two of their number had contrived to
obtain an air of scholastic gravitv by wearing spectacles. The
THE PIONEERS. 397
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 the captives were the guilty, downcast countenances of
the counterfeiters, and the simple but honest features of the
Leather-stocking.. The dungeons were to be distinguished,
externally, from the debtors’ apartments only by the size of the
apertures, the thickness of the grates, and by the heads of the
spikes that were driven into the logs as a protection against the
illegal use of edge-tools. The upper story was of frame-work,
regularly covered with boards, and contained one room decently
fitted up for the purposes of justice. A bench, raised on a
narrow platform to the height of a man above the floor, and
protected in front by a light railing, ran along one of its sides.
In the centre was a seat, furnished with rude arms, that was
always filled by the presiding judge. In front, on a level with
the floor of the room, was a large table covered with green
baize, and surrounded by benches; and at either of its ends
were rows of seats, rising one over the other, for jury boxes.
Each of these divisions was surrounded by a railing. The
remainder of the room was an open square, appropriated to the
spectators.
When the judges were seated, the lawyers had taken posses-
sion of the table, and the noise of moving feet had ceased in
the area, the proclamations were made in the usual form, the
jurors were sworn, the charge was given, and the court pro-
ceeded to hear the business before them.
We shall not detain the reader with a description of the
zaptious discussions that occupied the 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. Accordingly, after
3898 THE PIONEERS.
the period we have mentioned had elapsed, the cry of the
officer to “clear the way for the grand jury,” announced the
entrance of that body. The usual forms were observed, when
the foreman handed up to the bench two bills, on both of
which the Judge observed, at the first glance of his eye, the
name of Nathaniel Bumppo. It was a leisure moment with
the court ; some low whispering passed between the bench and
the Sheriff, who gave a signal to his officers, and in a very few
minutes the silence that prevailed was interrupted by a general
movement in the outer crowd; when presently the Leather-
stocking made his appearance, ushered into the criminal’s bar
under the custody of two constables. The hum ceased, the
people closed into the open space again, and the silence soon
became so deep, that the hard breathing of the prisoner was
audible.
Natty was dressed in his 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 strongly blended with his
personal feelings. He raised his eyes to the bench, thence to
the jury-boxes, the bar, and the crowd without, meeting every-'
where looks fastened on himself. After surveying his own
person, as searching the cause of this unusual attraction, he
once more turned his face around the assemblage, and opened
his mouth in one of his silent and remarkable laughs.
_ “Prisoner, remove your cap,” said Judge Temple.
‘The order was either unheard or unheeded.
“ Nathaniel Bumppo, be uncovered,” repeated the Judge.
Natty started at the sound of his name, and raising his face
earnestly 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.
THE PIONEERS. 399
“Mr. District Attorney,” said the Judge, “the prisoner is
ready ; we wait for the indictment.”
The duties of public prosecutor were discharged by Dirck
Van der School, who adjusted his spectacles, cast a cautious
look around him at his brethren of the bar, which he ended by
throwing his head aside so as to catch one glance over the
~glasses, when he proceeded to read the bill aloud. It was the
usual charge for an assault and battery on the person of Hiram
Doolittle, and was couched in the ancient language of such
instruments, especial care having been taken by the scribe not
to omit the name of a single offensive weapon known to the
law. When he had done, Mr. Van der School removed his
~~spectacles, which he closed and placed in his pocket, seemingly
for the pleasure of again opening and replacing them on his
nose. After this evolution was repeated once or twice, he
handed the bill over to Mr. Lippet, with a cavalier air, that said
as much as “ Pick a hole in that if you can.”
Natty listened to the charge with great attention, leaning
forward 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 turned to the
prisoner, whose voice was vainly expected to break the stillness
of the room.
“You have heard the presentment that the grand jury have
made, Nathaniel Bumppo,” said the Judge; “what do you
plead to the charge ?”
The old man dropped his head for a moment in a reflecting
aititude, and then raising it, he laughed before he answered—
“That I handled the man a little rough or so, is not to be
denied; but that there was occasion to make use of all the
things that the gentleman has spoken of, is downright untrue.
I am not much of a wrestler, seeing that I’m getting old; but
I was out among the Scotch-Irishers—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 prisoner,” interrupted
400 THE PIONEERS.
Judge Temple, “instruct your client how to plead, if not, the
court will assign him counsel.”
Aroused from studying the indictment by this appeal, the
attorney got up, and after a short dialogue with the hunter in
a low voice, he informed the court that they were ready to pro-
ceed.
“Do you plead guilty or not guilty ?” said the Judge.
“T 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.” v
Richard started at this declaration, and bent his eyes signifi-
cantly on Hiram, who returned the look with a slight move-
ment of his eyebrows.
“Proceed to open the cause, Mr. District Attorney,” con-
tinued the Judge. “ Mr. Clerk, enter the plea of not guilty.”
After a short opening address from Mr. Van der School,
Hiram was summoned to the bar to give his testimony. It
was delivered to the letter, perhaps, but with all that moral
coloring which can be conveyed under such expressions as,
“thinking no harm,” “feeling it my bounden duty as a magis-
trate,” and “seeing that the constable was back’ard in the busi-
ness.” When he had done, and the district attorney declined '
putting any further interrogatories, Mr. Lippet arose, with an
air of keen investigation, and asked the following questions :
“ Are you a constable of this county, sir ?”
“No, sir,” said Hiram, “I’m only a justice-peace.”
“Task you, Mr. Doolittle, in the face of this court, putting it
0 your conscience and your knowledge of the law, whether you
had any right to enter that man’s dwelling ?”
“Hem !” said Hiram, undergoing a violent struggle between
his desire for vengeance and his love of legal fame; “I do sup-
pose—that in—that is—strict law—that supposing—maybe I
hadn’t a real—lawful right ;—but as the case was—and Billy
was so back’ard—I thought I might come for’ard in the business,”
7
THE PIONEERS. 401
“Task you again, sir,” continued the lawyer, following up
nis success, “whether this old, this friendless old man, did or
did not repeatedly forbid your entrance ?”
“Why, I must say,” said Hiram, “that he was considerable
cross-grained ; not what I call clever, seeing that it was only
one neighbor wanting to go into the house of another.”
“Oh! then you own it was only meant for a neighborly
visit on your part, and without the sanction of law. Remem-
ber, gentlemen, the words of the witness, ‘ one neighbor want-
ing 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.”
“T repeat my question; did he tell you not to enter his
‘habitation ?”
‘“‘ There was a good deal passed betwixt us—but I’ve the
warrant in my pocket ; maybe the court would wish to see it ?”
“Witness,” said Judge Temple, “answer the question
directly ; did or did not the prisoner forbid your enteing his
hut ?”
“Why, I some think ——”
“ Answer without equivocation,” continued the Judge,
sternly.
“ He did.”
“ And did you attempt to enter after this order 2”
“T did; but the warrant was in my hand.”
“Proceed, Mr. Lippet, with your examination.”
But the attorney saw that the impression was in favor of
his client, and, waving his hand with a supercilious manner, as
if unwilling to insult the understanding of the jury with any
further defence, he replied—
“No, sir; I leave it for your honor to charge; I rest my
case here.”
“Mr. District Attorney,” said the Judge, “have you anything
to say ¢”
402 THE PIONEERS.
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—
“T shall rest the prosecution here, if the court please.”
Judge Temple arose and began the charge.
“Gentlemen of the Jury,” he said, “you have heard the
testimony, and I shall detain you but a moment. If an officer
meet with resistance in the execution of a process, he has an
undoubted right to call any citizen to his assistance; and the
acts of such assistant come within the protection of the law. I
shall leave you to judge, gentlemen, from the testimony, how
far the witness in this prosecution can be so considered, feeling
less reluctance to submit the case thus informally to your deci-
sion, because there is yet another indictment to be tried, which
involves heavier charges against the unfortunate prisoner.”
The tone of Marmaduke was mild.and insinuating, and as his
sentiments were given with such apparent: impartiality, they did
not fail of carrying due weight with the jury. The grave-look-
ing yeomen who composed this tribunal, laid their heads
together for a few minutes, without leaving the box, when the
foreman arose, and after the forms of the court were duly ob-
served, he pronounced the prisoner to be—
“Not guilty.”
“You are acquitted of this charge, Nathaniel Buia’ said
the judge.
“ Anan!” said Natty.
“You are found not guilty of striking and assaulting Mr.
Doolittle.”
“No, no, I'll not deny but that I took him a little roughly
by the shoulders,” said N -) looking about him with great
simplicity, “and that I
“You are acquitted,” interrupted the J udge, “and there is
nothing further to be said or done in the matter.”
A look of joy lighted up the features of the old man, who
now comprehended the case, and placing his cap se on his
THE PIONEERS. 403
head again, he threw up the bar of his little prison, and said
feelingly——
“T must say this for you, Judge Temple, that the se has not
been so hard on me as I dreaded. I hope God will bless you
for the kind things you’ve done to me this day.”
But the staff of the constable was opposed to his egress, and
Mr. Lippet whispered a few words in his ear, when the aged
hunter sank back into his place, and, removing his cap, stroked
down the remnants of his grey and sandy locks, with an air of
mottification mingled with submission.
“Mr. District Attorney,” said Judge Temple, affecting to busy
himself with his minutes, “ proceed with the second indictment.”
Mr. Van der School took great care that no part of the pre-
sentment, which he now read, should be lost on his auditors. It
accused the prisoner of resisting the execution of a search-war-
rant, by force of arms, and particularized, in the vague language
of the law, among a variety of other weapons, the use of the rifle.
This was indeed a more serious charge than an ordinary assault
and battery, and a corresponding degree of interest was mani-
fested. by the spectators in its result. The prisoner was duly
arraigned, and his plea again demanded. Mr. Lippet had anti-
cipated the answers of Natty, and ina whisper advised him how
to plead. But the feelings of the old hunter were awakened by
some of the expressions of the indictment, and, forgetful of his
eaution, he exclaimed—
“Tis a wicked untruth; I crave no man’s blood. Them
thieves, the Iroquois, won’t say it to my face, that I ever thirsted
after man’s blood. Ihave fou’t as a soldier that feared his Ma-
ker and his officer, but I never pulled trigger on any but a war-
rior that was up and awake. Noman can say that I ever struck
even a Mingo in his blanket. I believe there’s some who thinks
there’s no God in a wilderness!”
“ Attend to your plea, Bumppo,” said the Judge ; “ you hear
that you are accused of using your rifle against an officer of he
tice ? are you guilty or not guilty?”
By this time the irritated feelings of Natty had found vent;
404 THE PIONEERS,
and he rested on the bar for a moment, in a musing posture,
when he lifted his face, with his silent laugh, and, pointing to
where the wood-chopper stood, he said—
“Would Billy Kirby be standing there, d’ye think, if I had
used the rifle ?”
“Then you deny it,” said Mr. Lippet; “you plead not guil-
ty 8 ”
“ Sartain,” said Natty ; “ Billy knows that I never fired at all.
Billy, do you remember the turkey last winter? ah! me! that was
better than common firing ; but I can’t shoot as I used to could.”
“Enter the plea of not guilty,” said Judge Temple, strongly
affected by the simplicity of the prisoner.
Hiram was again sworn, and his testimony given on the se-
cond charge. He had discovered his former error, and proceed-
ed more cautiously than before. He related very distinctly, and
for the man, with amazing terseness, the suspicion against
the hunter, the complaint, the issuing of the warrant, and
the swearing in of Kirby; all of which, he affirmed, were
done in due form of law. He then added the manner in which
the constable had been received; and stated distinctly, that
Natty had pointed the rifle at Kirby, and threatened his life, if
he attempted to execute his duty. All this was confirmed by
Jotham, who was observed to adhere closely to the story of the
magistrate. Mr. Lippet conducted an artful cross-examination of
these two witnesses, but after consuming much time, was com-
pelled to relinquish the attempt to obtain any advantage, in
despair.
At length the district attorney called the wood-chopper to the
bar. Billy gave an extremely confused account of the whole
affair, although he evidently aimed at the truth, until Mr. Van
der School aided him, by asking some direct questions :—
“Tt appears from examining the papers, that you demanded
admission into the hut legally ; so you were put in bodily fear
by his rifle and threats ?”
“T didn’t mind them that, man,” said Billy, snapping his
fingers ; “IT should be a poor stick to mind old Leather-stocking.”
THE PIONEERS. 405
“But I understood you to say (referring to your -previous
words (as delivered here in court) in the commencement of
your testimony) that you thought he meant to shoot you?”
“To be sure I did ; and so would you too, squire, if you had
seen the chap dropping a muzzle that never misses, and cocking
an eye that has a natural squint by long practice. I thought
there would be a dust on’t, and my back was up at once ;
but Leather-stocking gi’n up the skin, and so the matter ended.”
“Ah! Billy,” said Natty, shaking his head, “’twas a lucky
thought in me to throw out the hide, or there might have been
blood spilt; and I’m sure, if it had been yourn, 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 utterly disregarded the pre-
sence of the court, “as you are on the subject, it may be that
you've no 4 }
“ Go on with your examination, Mr. District Attorney.”
That gentleman eyed the familiarity between his witness and
the prisoner with manifest disgust, and indicated to the court
that he was done.
“Then you didn’t feel frightened, Mr. Kirby?” said the coun-
sel 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?”
“Varmount state; ’tis a mountaynious place, but there’s a
stiff soil, and it’s pretty much wooded with beech and maple.”
“TJ have always heard so,” said Mr. Lippet, soothingly. “ You
have been used to the rifle yourself, in that country ?”
“JT pull the second best trigger in this county. I knock un-
der to Natty Bumppo there, sin’ he shot the pigeon.”
Leather-stocking raised his head, and laughed again, when
he abruptly thrust out a wrinkled hand, and said—
“You're young yet, Billy, and hav’n’t seen the matches that I
have; but here’s my hand; I bear no malice to you, I don’t.”
406 THE PIONEERS.
Mr. Lippet allowed this conciliatory offering to be accepted,
and judiciously paused, while the spirit of peace was exercising
its influence over the two; but the Judge interposed his
authority.
“This is an improper place for such dialogues,” he said
“ Proceed with your examination of this witness, Mr. weictes or |
shall order the next.”
The attorney started, as if unconscious of any «eee and
continued—
“So you settled the matter with Natty amicably on thd spot,
did you?” |
“ He gi’n me the skin, and I didn’t want to quarrel with an
old man; for my part, I see no such mighty matter in shooting
a buck!”
“And you parted friends? and you would never have
thought of bringing the business up before a court, hadn’t you
been subpeenaed ?”
“T don’t think I should; he gi’n the skin, and I didn’t feel a
hard thought, though Squire Doolittle got some affronted.”
“T have done, sir,” said Mr. Lippet, probably 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 interrupted the lead-
ing questions put by the prisoner’s counsel (by leading questions
I mean telling him what to say), did I not feel confident that
the law of the land was superior to any advantages (I mean
legal advantages) which he might obtain by his art. The
counsel for the prisoner, gentlemen, has endeavored to persuade
you, in opposition to your own good sense, to believe that
pointing a rifle at a constable (elected or deputed) is a very
innocent affair; and that’ society (J mean the’ commonwealth,
gentlemen) shall not be endangered thereby. But let me claim
your attention, while we look over the particulars of this heinous
offence.” Here Mr. Van der School favored the jury with an
abridgment of the testimony, recounted in such a manner as
utterly to confuse the faculties of his worthy listeners. After
this exhibition he closed as follows:—“ And now, gentlemen,
having thus made plain to your senses the crime of which this
unfortunate man has been guilty (unfortunate both on account
of his ignorance and his guilt), I shall leave you to your own
consciences ; not in the least doubting that you will see the
importance (notwithstanding the prisoner’s counsel (doubtless
relying on your former verdict) wishes to appear so confident of
success) of punishing the offender, and asserting the dignity of
the laws.”
It was now the duty of the Judge to deliver his charge. It
consisted of a short, comprehensive summary of the testimony,
laying bare the artifice of the prisoner’s counsel, and placing the
facts in so obvious a light, that they could not well be misunder-
stood. “ Living as we do, gentlemen,” he concluded, “on the
skirts of society, it becomes doubly necessary to protect the minis-
ters of the law. If you believe the witnesses, in their construc-
tion of the acts of the prisoner, it is your duty to convict him ;
but if you believe that the old man, who this day appears before
you, meant not to harm the constable, but was acting more
under the influence of habit than by the instigations of malice,
it will be your duty to judge him, but to do it with lenity.”
As before, the jury did not leave their box; but, after a con-
sultation of some little time, their foreman 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 consulta-
tion 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 PIONEERS. 407
a ' \
408 THE PIONEERS.
The old hunter, who had been musing again, with his head
on the bar, raised himself, and cried, with a prompt, military
tone—
“ Here.”
The Judge waved his hand for silence, and proceeded—
“Tn forming their sentence, the court have been governed as
much by the consideration of your ignorance of the laws, as by
a strict sense of the importance of punishing such outrages as
this of which you have been found guilty. They have therefore
passed over the obvious punishment of whipping on the bare
back, in mercy to your years; but as the dignity of the law
requires an open exhibition of the consequences of your crime, it
is ordered, that you be conveyed from this room to the public
stocks, where you are to be confined for one hour: that you
pay a fine to the state of one hundred dollars; and that you
be imprisoned in the jail of this county for one calendar month,
and furthermore, that your imprisonment do not cease until
the said fine shall be paid. I feel it my duty, Nathaniel
Bumppo \s
“And where should I get the money?” interrupted the
Leather-Stocking, eagerly ; “where should I get the money?
you'll take away the bounty on the painters, because I cut the
throat of a deer; and how is an old man to find so much gold
or silver in the woods? No, no, judge: think better of it, and
don’t talk of shutting me up in a jail for the little time I have
to stay.”
“Tf you have anything to urge against the passing of the
sentence, the court will yet hear you,” said the Judge, mildly.
“T have enough to say ag’in it,” cried Natty, grasping the
bar on which his fingers were working with a convulsed motion.
“Where am I to get the money? Let me out into the woods ~
and hills, where I’ve been used to breathe the clear air, and
though I’m threescore and ten, if you’ve left game enough in
the country, I'll travel night and day but I'll make you up the
sum afore the season is over. Yes, yes—you see the reason of
the thing, and the wickedness of shutting up an old man, that
‘z THE PIONEERS. 409
has spent his days, as one may say, where he could always look
into the windows of heaven.”
“T must be governed by the law
“Talk not to me of law, Marmaduke Temple,” interrupted
»\ the hunter. “Did the beast of the forest mind your laws,
| when it was thirsty and hungering for the blood of your own
\ child! She was kneeling to her God fora greater favor than
I ask, and he heard her; and if you now say no to my prayers,
do you think he will be deaf?”
““My private feelings must not enter into
“ Hear me, Marmaduke Temple,” interrupted the old man,
with melancholy earnestness, “and hear reason. I’ve travelled
these mountains when you was no judge, but an infant in your
mother’s arms ; and I feel as if I had a right and a privilege to
travel them 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 cravings of your
hunger? Yes, yes—you thought it no sin then to kill a deer!
And this I did, though I had no reason to love you, for you
had never done anything but harm to them that loved and
sheltered me. And now, will you shut me up in your dun-
geons to pay me for my kindness? A hundred dollars! where
should I get the money? No, no—there’s them that says hard
things of you, Marmaduke Temple, but you 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—lI 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 years, but it shall be done—yes,
yes, I’ve promised it, and it shall be done!”
It is unnecessary to say, that the movement of the Leather-
stocking was again intercepted by the constable ; but before he
18
be
3
410 THE PIONEERS. G
had time to speak, a bustling in the crowd, and a loud hem,
drew all eyes to another part of the room.
Benjamin had succeeded in edging his way through the
people, and was now seen balancing his short body, with one
foot in a window and the other on a railing of the jury-box.
To the amazement of the whole court, the steward was evidently
preparing to speak. After a good deal of difficulty, he suc-
ceeded in drawing from his pocket a small bag, and then found
utterance.
“Tf-so-be,” he said, “that your honor is agreeable to trust
the poor fellow out on another cruise among the beasts, here’s
a small matter that will help to bring down the risk, seeing
that there’s just thirty-five of your Spaniards in it; and I wish,
from the bottom of my heart, that they was raal British gui-
neas, 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 wooden register
of his arrears to the “ Bold Dragoon” with one hand, while he
offered his bag of dollars with the other. Astonishment at this
singular interruption produced a profound stillness in the room,
which was only interrupted by the Sheriff, who struck his sword
on the table, and cried—
“ Silence !”
“There must be an end to this,” said the Judge, struggling
to overcome his feelings. “Constable, lead the prisoner to the
stocks. Mr. Clerk, what stands next on the calendar 2”
Natty seemed to yield to his destiny, for he sank his head
on his chest, and followed the officer from the court-room in
silence. The crowd moved back for the passage of the prisoner,
and when his tall form was seen descending from the outer
door, a rush of the p2ople to the scene of his disgrace followed.
THE PIONEERS, 41)
CHAPTER XXXIV.
Ha ! ha! look! he wears cruel garters ! Lear.
Tax punishments of the common law were still known, at
the time of our tale, to the people of New York; and the
whipping-post, and its companion, the stocks, were not yet
supplanted by the more merciful expedients of the public
prison. Immediately in front of the jail those relics of the
elder times were situated, as a lesson of precautionary justice to
the evil-doers of the settlement.
Natty followed the constables to this spot, bowing his head
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 strong curiosity. A constable
taised the upper part of the stocks, and pointed with his finger
to the holes where the old man was to place his feet. Without
making the least objection to the punishment, the Leather-
stocking quietly seated himself on the ground, and suffered his
limbs to be laid in the openings, without even a murmur;
though he cast one glance about him, in quest of that sympathy
that human nature. always seems to require under suffering. If
be met no direct manifestations of pity, neither did he see any
unfeeling exultation, or hear a single reproachful epithet. The
character of the mob, if it could be called by such a name, was
that of attentive subordination.
The constable was in the act of lowering the upper plank,
when Benjamin, who had pressed close to the side of the
prisoner, said, in his hoarse tones, as if seeking for some cause
to create a quarrel—
“ Where away, master constable, is the use of clapping a man
412 THE PIONEERS.
in them here bilboes? it neither stops his grog nor hurts his
back ; what for is it that you do the thing ?”
“Tis the sentence of the court, Mr. Penguillium, and there’s
law for it, I s’pose.”
“ Ay, ay, I know that there’s law for the thing; but where
away do you find the use, I say? it does no harm, and it only —
keeps a man by the heels for the small matter of two glasses.”
“Ts it no harm, Benny Pump,” said Natty, raising his eyes
with a piteous look in the face of the steward—“ is it no harm
to show off a man in his seventy-first year, like a tame bear, for
the settlers to look on! Is it no harm to put an old soldier,
that has 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 spectacle for the county! Is it no harm to bring
down the pride of an honest man to be the equal of the beasts
of the forest !”
Benjamin stared about him fiercely, and could he have found
a single face that expressed contumely, he would have been
prompt to quarrel with its owner; but meeting eyerywhere
with looks of sobriety, and occasionally of commiseration, he
very deliberately seated himself by the side of the hunter, and
placing his legs in the two vacant holes of the stocks, he said—
“ Now lower away, master constable, lower away, I tell ye!
If-so-be there’s such a thing hereabouts as a man that wants to
see a bear, let him look and be d—d, and he shall find two of
them, and mayhap one of the same that can bite as well as
growl.”
“But I have no orders to put you in the stocks, Mr. Pump,”
cried the constable ; “ you must get up, and let me do my duty.”
“You've my orders, and what do you need better to meddle
with my own feet? so lower away, will ye, and let me see the
man that chooses to open his mouth with a grin on it.”
“There can’t be any harm in locking up a creater that will
enter the pound,” said the constable, laughing, and closing the
stocks on them both.
THE PIONEERS. 413
It was fortunate that this act was executed with decision, for
the whole of the spectators, when they saw Benjamin assume
the position he took, felt an inclination for merriment, which
few thought it worth while to suppress. The steward struggled
violently for his liberty again, with an evident intention of
making battle on those who stood nearest to him; but the key
was already turned, and all his efforts were vain.
“ Hark ye, master constable,” he cried, “just clear away your
bilboes for the small matter of a log-glass, will ye, and let me
show some of them there chaps who it is they are so merry
about.”
“No, no, you would go in, and you can’t come out,” returned
the officer, “ until the time has expired that the Judge directed
for the keeping of the prisoner.”
Benjamin, finding that his threats and his struggles were use-
less, had good sense enough to learn patience from the resigned
manner of his companion, and soon settled himself down by the
side of Natty, with a contemptuousness expressed in his hard
features, that showed he had substituted disgust for rage.
When the violence of the steward’s feelings had in some mea-
sure 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 little 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 Boadishey, laid by the heels, for nothing,
mayhap, but forgetting that they'd drunk their allowance
already, when a glass of grog has come in their way. This is
nothing more than riding with two anchors ahead, waiting for
a turn in the tide, or a shift of wind, d’ye see, with a soft bot-
tom 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.”
414 THE PIONEERS.
The hunter appeared to appreciate the kind intentions of the
other, though he could not understand his eloquence; and
raising his humbled countenance, he attempted a smile, as he
said— ‘
“¢ Anan !”
“°Tis nothing, I say, but a small matter of a squall that will
soon blow over,” continued Benjamin. ‘“'To you that has such
a length of keel, it must be all the same as nothing; tho’f, see-
ing that I’m a little short in my lower timbers, they’ve triced my
heels up in such a way as to give me a bit of a cant. But what
cares I, Master Bump-ho, if the ship strains a little at her
anchor; it’s only for a dog-watch, and dam’me but she'll sail
with you then on that cruise after them said beaver. I’m not
much used to small-arms, seeing that I was stationed at the
ammunition-boxes, being sum’mat too low-rigged to see over
the hammock-cloths; but I can carry the game, d’ye see, and
mayhap make out to lend a hand with the traps; and if-so-be
youre any way so handy with them as ye be with your boat-
hook, twill be but a short cruise after all. I’ve squared the
yards with Squire Dickens this morning, and I shall send him
word that he needn’t bear my name on the books again till
such time as the cruise is over.”
“You're used to dwell with men, Benny” said Leather-
stocking, mournfully, “and the ways of the woods would be
hard on you, if——” |
“Not a bit—not a bit,” cried the steward; “I’m none of
your fair-weather chaps, Master Bump-ho, as sails only in
smooth water. When I find a friend, I sticks by him, d’ye see.
Now, there’s no better man a-going than Squire Dickens, and I
love him about the same as I loves Mistress Hollister’s new keg
of Jamaiky.” The steward paused, and turning his uncouth
visage on the hunter, he surveyed him witha roguish leer of his
eye, and gradually suffered the muscles of his hard features to
relax, until his face was illuminated by the display of his white
teeth, when he dropped his voice, and added,—‘“I say, Master
Leather-stocking, ’tis fresher and livelier than any Hollands
THE PIONEERS. 415
you'll get in Garnsey. But we'll send a hand over and ask the
woman 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 diminished
greatly, as its members scattered in their various pursuits. He
looked wistfully at Benjamin, but did not reply; a deeply seated
anxiety seeming to absorb every other sensation, and to throw a
melancholy gloom over his wrinkled features, which were work-
ing with the movements of his mind.
The steward was about to act on the old principle, that
silence gives consent, when Hiram Doolittle, attended by Jo-
tham, 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 dis-
tance from the steward, in front of the Leather-stocking. Hiram
stood, for a moment, cowering before the keen looks that Natty
fastened. on him, and suffering under an embarrassment. that
was quite new; when, having in some degree recovered him-
self, he looked at the heavens, and then at the smoky atmo-
sphere, as if it were only an ordinary meeting with a friend, and
said in his formal hesitating way— :
“ Quite a scurcity of rain lately ; I some think we shall have
a long drought on’t.”
Benjamin was occupied in untying his bag of dollars, and did
not observe the approach of the magistrate, while Natty turned
his face, in which every muscle was working, away from him in
disgust, without answering. Rather encouraged than daunted
by this exhibition of ae rent after a short pause, conti-
nued.
“The clouds look as if they’d no water in them, and the
earth is dreadfully parched. ‘To my judgment, there'll be short
crops this season, if the rain doesn’t fall quite speedily.”
The air with which Mr. Doolittle delivered this prophetical
opinion was peculiar to his species. It was a jesuitical, cold,
unfeeling, and selfish manner, that seemed to say, “I have kept
.
416 THE PIONEERS,
within the law,” to the man he had so cruelly injured. It quite
overcame the restraint that the old hunter had been laboring to
impose on himself, and he burst out in a warm glow of indigna-
tion.
“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, Isay! I am mournful, and the sight of
ye brings bitter thoughts.”
Benjamin ceased thumbing his money, and raised his head at
the instant that Hiram, who was thrown off his guard by the
invectives of the hunter, unluckily trusted his person within
reach of the steward, who grasped one of his legs, with a hand
that had the grip of a vice, and whirled the magistrate from his
feet, before he had either time to collect his senses or to exercise
the strength he did really possess. Benjamin wanted neither
proportions nor manhood in his head, shoulders, and arms,
though all the rest of his frame appeared to be originally
intended for a very different sort of a man. He exerted his
physical powers on the present occasion, with much’ discretion ;
and as he had taken his antagonist at a great disadvantage,
the struggle resulted, very soon, in Benjamin getting the magis-
trate fixed in a posture somewhat similar to his own, and
manfully placed face to face.
“Youre a ship’s cousin, I tell ye, Master Doo-but-little,”
roared the steward; “some such matter as a ship’s cousin, sir.
I know you, I do, with your fair-weather speeches to Squire
Dickens, to his face, and then you go and sarve out your
grumbling to all the old women in the town, do ye. An’t it
enough for any Christian, let him harbor never so much malice,
to get an honest old fellow laid by the heels in this fashion,
without carrying sail so hard on the poor dog, as if you would
run him down as he lay at his anchors? But I’ve logged many ~
a hard thing against your name, master, and now the time’s
come to foot up the day’s work, d’ye see; so square yourself,
THE PIONEERS. 417
you lubber, square yourself, and we’ll soon know who’s the bet-
ter man.”
“ Jotham !” cried the frightened magistrate—“ Jotham ! call
in the constables. Mr. Penguillium, I command the peace—I
order you to keep the peace.”
“ There’s been more peace than love atwixt us, master,” cried
the steward, making some very unequivocal demonstrations
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 Hiram, as well
as he could under the grasp which the steward held on his
throttle—“ lay hands on me if you dare!” |
“Tf 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 violent; for he darted his sledge-
hammer violently on the anvil of Mr. Doolittle’s countenance,
and the place became, in an instant, a scene of tumult and
confusion. The crowd rushed in a dense circle around the
spot, while some ran to the court-room to give the alarm, and
one or two of the more juvenile part of the multitude had a
desperate trial of speed to see who should be the happy man
to communicate the critical situation of the magistrate to his
wile.
Benjamin worked away with great industry and a good deal
of skill, at his occupation, using one hand to raise up his anta-
gonist, while he knocked him over with the other; for he would
have been disgraced in his own estimation, had he struck a blow
on. a fallen adversary. By this considerate arrangement he had
found means to hammer the visage of Hiram out of all shape,
by the time Richard succeeded in forcing his way through the
throng to the point of combat. The Sheriff afterwards declared
that, independently of his mortification, as preserver of the
peace of the county, at this interruption to its harmony, he was
never so grieved in his life, as when he saw this breach of unity
418 THE PIONEERS.
between his favorites. Hiram had in some degree become
necessary to his vanity, and Benjamin, strange as it may appear,
he really loved. This attachment was exhibited in the first
words that he uttered.
“Squire Doolittle ! Squire Doolittle! I am ashamed to see
a man of your character and office forget himself so much as to
disturb the peace, insult the court, and beat poor Benjamin in
this manner !” |
At the sound of Mr. Jones’s voice, the steward ceased his
employment, and Hiram had an opportunity of raising his
discomfited visage towards the mediator. _ Emboldened by
the sight of the Sheriff, Mr. Doolittle again had recourse to
his lungs.
“Tll have the law on you for this,” he eried desperately ; :
“Tl have the law on you for this. I call on you, Mr. Sheriff,
to seize this man, and I demand that you fake his body into
custody.” :
By this time Richard. was master of the true state of the case,
and, turning to the steward, he said, reproachfully—
“ Benjamin, how came you in the stocks ?. I always thought
you were mild and docile as a lamb. It was for your docility
that I most esteemed you. Benjamin! Benjamin! you have
not only disgraced yourself, but your friends, by this shameless |
conduct. Bless me! bless me! Mr. Doolittle, he seems to have
knocked your face all of one side.”
Hiram by this time had got on. his feet again, and without
the reach of the steward, when he broke forth in violent appeals
for vengeance. The offence was too apparent to be passed over,
and the Sheriff, mindful of the impartiality exhibited by his
cousin in the recent trial of the Leather-stocking, came to the
painful conclusion that it was necessary to commit his major-
domo to prison. As the time of Natty’s: punishment was
expired, and Benjamin found that they were to be confined, for
that night. at least, in the same apartment, he made no very
strong objections to the measure, nor spoke of bail, though, as
THE PIONEERS. 419
the Sheriff preceded the party of constables that conducted them
to the jail, he uttered the following remonstrance :—
“As to being berthed with Master Bump-ho for a night or
so, it’s but little I think of it, Squire Dickens, seeing that I calls
him an honest man, and one as has a handy way with boat-
hooks and rifles; but as for owning that a man desarves any-
thing worse than a double allowance, for knocking that carpen-
ter’s face a-one-side, as you call it, I'll maintain it’s ag’in reason
and Christianity. If there’s a bloodsucker in this ’ere county,
it’s that very chap. Ay! I know him! and if he hasn’t got all
the same as dead wood in his head-works, he knows sum’mat
of me. Where’s the mighty harm, Squire, that you take it so
much to heart? It’s all the same as any other battle, d’ye see,
sir, being broadside to broadside, only that it was fout at anchor,
which was what we did in Port Praya roads, when Suff’ring
came in among us; and a sufl’ring time he had of it, before he
got out again.”
Richard thought it unworthy of him to make any reply to
this speech ; but when his prisoners were safely lodged in an
outer dungeon, ordering the bolts to be drawn and the key
turned, he withdrew.
Benjamin held frequent and friendly dialogues with different
people, through the iron gratings, during the afternoon ; but
his companion paced their narrow limits, in his moccasins, with
quick, impatient treads, his face hanging on his breast in dejec-
tion, or when lifted, at moments, to the idlers at the window,
lighted, perhaps, for an instant, with the childish aspect of aged
forgetfulness, which would vanish directly in an expression of
deep and obvious anxiety.
At the close of the day, Edwards was seen at the window, in
earnest dialogue with his friend ; and after he departed, it was
thought that he had communicated words of comfort to the
hunter, who threw himself on his pallet, and was soon in a deep
sleep. The curious spectators had exhausted the conversation
of the steward, who had drunk good fellowship with half of his
acquainiance, and as Natty was no longer in motion, by eight
420 THE PIONEERS.
o’clock, Billy Kirby, who was the last lounger at the window,
retired into the “ Templetown Coffee-house,” when Natty rose
and hung a blanket before the opening, and the prisoners appa-
rently retired for the night.
AU
Realy
i
my
oH
THE PIONEERS. 42)
CHAPTER XXXYV.
And to avoid the foe’s pursuit,
With spurring put their cattle to’t;
And till all four were out of wind,
And danger too, ne’er looked behind.
HUDIBRAS.
As the shades of evening approached, the jurors, witnesses,
and other attendants on the court, began to disperse, and before
nine o’clock the village was quiet, and its streets nearly deserted.
At that hour Judge Temple and his daughter, followed at a
short distance by Louisa Grant, walked slowly down the avenue,
under the slight shadows of the young poplars, nelding the
following discourse :—
“You can best soothe his wounded spirit, my chil said
Marmaduke ; “ but it will be dangerous to touch on the nature
of his offence; the sanctity of the laws must be respected.”
“Surely, sir,” cried the, impatient Elizabeth, “ those laws that
condemn a man like the Leather-stocking to so severe a punish-
ment, for an offence that even I must think very venial, cannot
be perfect in themselves.”
“ Thou talkest of what thou dost not understand, Elizabeth,”
returned her father. “Society cannot exist without wholesome
restraints. Those restraints cannot be inflicted, without security
and respect to the persons of those who administer them ; and
it would sound ill indeed to report, that a judge had extended
favor to a convicted criminal, because he had saved the life of
his child.”
“T see—lI 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
422 | “THE PIONEERS.
assault on Hiram Doolittle, but for threatening the life of a
constable, who was in the performance of:
“It is immaterial whether it be one or the other,” interrupted
Miss Temple, with a logic that contained more feeling than
reason; “I know Natty to be innocent, and, thinking so, I must
think all wrong who oppress him.”
“ His judge among the number! thy father, Elizabeth?” ~
“ Nay, nay, nay; do not put such questions to me; give me
my commission, father, and let me proceed to execute it.”
The Judge paused a moment, smiling fondly on his child,
and then dropped his hand affectionately on her shoulder, as he
answered—
“Thou hast reason, Bess, and much of it too, but thy heart
lies too near thy head. But listen: in this pocket-book are two
hundred dollars. Go to the prison—there are none in this
place to harm thee—give this note to the jailor, and when thou
seest Bumppo, say what thou wilt to the poor old man; give
scope to thé 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 hand that
held the pocket-book to her bosom, and taking her friend by
the arm, they issued together from the inclosure into = prin-
cipal street of the village.
As they pursued their walk in silence, under the row of
houses, where the deeper gloom of the evening effectually con-
cealed their persons, no sound reached them, excepting the
slow tread of a yoke of oxen, with the rattling of a cart, that were
moving along the street in the same direction with themselves.
The figure of the teamster was just discernible by the dim light,
lounging by the side of his cattle with a listless air, as if
fatigued by the toil of the day. At the corner, where the jail
stood, the progress of the ladies was impeded, for a moment,
by the oxen, who were turned up to the side of the building,
and given a lock of hay, which they had carried on their necks,
THE PIONEERS. 423
as a reward for their patient labor. The whole of this was so
natural, and so common, that Elizabeth saw nothing to induce
a second glance at the team, until she heard the teamster
speaking to his cattle in a low voice :—
“Mind yourself, Brindle; will you, sir! will you !”
The language itself was unusual to oxen, with which all who
dwell in a new country are familiar; but there was something
in the voice also, that startled Miss Temple. On turning the
corner, she necessarily approached the man, and her look was
enabled to detect the person of Oliver Edwards, concealed under
the coarse garb of a teamster. Their eyes met at the same
instant, and, notwithstanding the gloom, and the enveloping
cloak of Elizabeth, the recognition was mutual.
“Miss Temple !” “Mr. Edwards !” were exclaimed. simulta-
neously, though a feeling that seemed common to. both, ren-
dered the words nearly inaudible.
“Ts 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 recognise 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. Edwards, but into
it. We wish io show the Leather-stocking that we do not for-
get his services, and that at the same time we must be just, we
are also grateful. I suppose you are on a similar errand ; but
let me beg that you will give us leave to precede you ten
minutes. Good night, sir; I—I—am quite sorry, Mr. Edwards,
to see you reduced to such labor; I am sure my father
would ”
“T shall wait your pleasure, ee interrupted the youth,
coldly. “May I beg that you will not mention my being here ?”
“ Certainly,” said Elizabeth, returning his bow by a slight
inclination of her head, and urging the tardy Louisa forward.
As they entered the jailor’s house, however, Miss Grant found
leisure to whisper—
494 THE PIONEERS.
“Would it not be well to offer part of your money to Oliver?
half of it will pay the fine of Bumppo; and he is so unused to
hardships! I am sure my father will subscribe much of his
little pittance, to place him in a station that is more worthy of
him.”
The involuntary smile that passed over the features of Eliza-
beth was blended with an expression of deep and heartfelt
pity. She did not reply, however, and the appearance of the
jailor soon recalled the thoughts of both to the object of their
visit.
The rescue of the ladies, and their consequent interest in his
prisoner, together with the informal manners that prevailed in
the country, all united to prevent any surprise, on the part of
the jailor, at their request for admission to Bumppo. The note
of Judge Temple, however, would have silenced all objections,
if he had felt them, and he led the way without hesitation to
the apartment that held the prisoners. The instant the key
was put into the lock, the hoarse voice of Benjamin was heard,
| demanding—
“Yo! hoy! who comes there ?”
“Some visitors that you'll be glad to see,” returned the jailor.
“What have you done to the lock, that it won’t turn 2”
“‘ Handsomely, handsomely, master,” cried the steward; “I
have just drove a nail into a berth along-side of this here bolt,
as a stopper, d’ye see, so that Master Do-but-little can’t be run-
ning in and breezing up another fight atwixt us; for, to my
account, there'll be but a ban-yan with me soon, seeing that
they'll mulct me of my Spaniards, all the same as if Pd over-
flogged the lubber. Throw your ship into the wind, and lay
by for a small matter, will ye? and I'll soon clear a passage.”
The sounds of hammering gave an assurance that the steward
was in earnest, and in a short time the lock yielded, when the
door was opened.
Benjamin had evidently been anticipating the seizure of his
money, for he had made frequent demands on the favorite
cask at the “ Bold Dragoon,” during the afternoon and evening,
THE PIONEERS. 425
and was now in that state which by marine imagery is called
“ half-seas-over.” It was no easy thing to destroy the balance
of the old tar by the effects of liquor, for, as he expressed it
himself, “he was too low-rigged not to carry sail in all wea-
thers ;” but he was precisely in that condition which is so
expressively termed “muddy.” When he perceived who the
visitors were, he retreated to the side of the room where his
pallet lay, and, regardless of the presence of his young mistress,
seated himself on it with an air of great sobriety, placing his
back firmly against the wall.
“Tf you undertake to spoil my locks in this manner, Mr.
Pump,” said the jailor, “I shall put a stopper, as you call it, on
your legs, and tie you down to your bed.”
“What for should ye, master?” grumbled Benjamin; “I’ve
rode out one squall to-day anchored by the heels, and I wants
no more of them. Wheres 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.”
“T must shut up for the night at nine,” said the jailor, “and
it’s now forty-two minutes past eight.” He placed the little
candle on a rough pine-table, and withdrew.
“ Leather-stocking !” said Elizabeth, when the key of the door
was turned on them again, “my good friend Leather-stocking !
1 have come on a message of gratitude. Had you submitted
to the search, worthy old man, the death of the deer would
have been a trifle, and all would have been well i
“Submit to the sarch!” interrupted Natty, raising his face
from resting on his knees, without rising from the corner where
* he had seated himself; “d’ye think, gal, I would let such a
varmint into my hut? No, no—I wouldn’t have opened the
door to your own sweet countenance then. But they are
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 melancholy.
496 THE PIONEERS.
“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, im a. sorrowful
voice: “can ye go into the place where you've laid your
fathers, and mothers, and children, and gather together their
ashes, and make the same men and women of them as afore ?
You do not know what ’tis to lay your head for more than
forty years under the cover of the same logs, and to look 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 crea-
ters. I hada hope for ye that it might come to pass, but it’s
all over now; this Pa to that, will drive the thing — out
of his mind for ever.’
Miss -Temple must have understood the meaning of the
old man better than the other listeners; for, while Louisa stood
innocently by her side, commiserating the griefs of the hunter,
she bent her head aside, so as to conceal her features. The
action and the feeling that caused it lasted but a moment.
“Other logs, and better, though, can be had, and shall
be found for you, my old defender,” she continued. “ Your
confinement will soon be over, and, before that time arrives, I
shall have a house prepared for you, where you may spend the
close of your harmless life in ease and plenty.”
“Kase and plenty! house !” repeated Natty, slowly. “ You
mean well, you mean well, and I quite mourn that it. can-
not be; but he has seen me a sight and a Hanging eat
for 22
“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 ajib-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!”
“IT believe you forget, Mr. Pump, in whose presence you are,”
said Elizabeth.
THE PIONEERS. 427
“Forget you, Miss Lizzy,” returned the steward; “if I do,
dam’me 5 you are not to be forgot, like Goody Prettybones, up
at the big house there. I 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 somewhat like an atomy 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 taut bolt-rope, being snug at the leaches, but all in a eR
about the inner cloths.”
“Peace—I command you to be silent, sir !” said Elizabeth.
“Ay, ay, ma’am,” returned the steward. “You didn’t say I
shouldn’t drink, though.”
“We will not speak of what is to become of others,’ said
Miss Temple, turning’ again to the hunter—“ but of your own
fortunes, Natty. It shall be my care to see that you pass the
rest of your days in ease and plenty.”
“ase and plenty!” again repeated the Edathersntackinid
“what ease can there be to an old man, who must walk a mile
across the open fields, before he can find a shade to hide
him from a scorching sun! or what plenty is there where you
may hunt a day, and not start a buck, or see anything bigger
than a mink, or maybe a stray fox! Ah! I shall have a hard
time after them very beavers, for this fine. I must go low
toward the Pennsylvany line in search 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 according to Providence, you turn back
the waters over the low giounds 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 yur mouth, you. won’t be caney to start when the time
comes.”
“ Wark’ee, Master Bump-ho,” said the steward; “ don't you
fear for Ben. When the watch is called, 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.”
428 THE PIONEERS.
“The time has come now,” said the hunter, listening;
“T 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, looking simply into
the face of Elizabeth—‘ you won’t betray an old man, who
craves to breathe the clear air of heaven? I mean no harm;
and if the law says that I must pay the hundred dollars, Pll take
the season through, but it shall be forthcoming; and this good
man will help me.”
“You catch them,” said Benjamin, with a sweeping gesture
of his arm, “and if they get away again, call me a slink, that’s
all.”
“But what mean you?” cried the wondering Elizabeth.
“Here you must stay for thirty days; but I have the money for
your fine in this purse. Take it; pay it in the morning, and
summon patience for your month. I will come often to
see you, with my friend; we will make up your clothes with our
own hands; indeed, indeed, you shall be comfortable.”
“Would ye, children ?” said Natty, advancing across the
floor with an air of kindness, and taking the hand of Elizabeth ;
“would ye be so kearful of an old man, and just for shooting
the beast which cost him nothing? Such things doesn’t run in
the blood, I believe, for you seem not to forget a favor. Your
little fingers couldn’t do much on a buck-skin, nor be you used
to such a thread as sinews. But if he hasn’t got past hearing,
he shall hear it and know it, that he may see, like me, there is
some who know how to remember a kindness.”
“Tell him nothing,” cried Elizabeth, earnestly ; “if you love
me, if you regard my feelings, tell him nothing. It is of your-
self only I would talk, and for yourself only Iact. 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
PHE PIONEERS. 429
usual laugh; “not a day, nor a night, nor an hour, gal. Judge
Temple may sintence, but he can’t keep, without a better dun-
geon than this. I was taken once by the French, and they put
sixty-two of us in a block-house, mgh hand to old Frontinac;
but ’twas easy to cut through a pine log to them that was used
to timber.” The hunter paused, and looked cautiously around
the room, when, laughing again, he shoved the steward gently
from his post, and removing the bed-clothes, discovered a hole
recently cut in the logs with a mallet and chisel. “It’s only a
kick, and the outside piece is off, and then 4
“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.”
“T 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-stocking,” continued
Miss Temple; “I beseech you, reflect that you will be driven
to the woods entirely, and that you are fast getting old. Be
patient for a little time, when you can go abroad openly, and
with honor.”
“Is there beaver to be catched here, gal ?”
“Tf not, here is money to discharge the fine, and in a month
you are free. See, here it is in gold.” —
“Gold!” said Natty, with a kind of childish curiosity ; “ it’s
long sin’ I’ve seen a gold piece. We used to get the broad joes,
in the old war, as plenty as the bears be now. I remember there
was a man in Dieskau’s army, that was killed, who had a dozen
of the shining things sewed up in hisshirt. I didn’t handle them
myself, but I seen them cut out with my own eyes; they was
bigger and brighter than them be.”
430 THE PIONEERS.
“These are English guineas, and are yours,” said Elizabeth ;
“an earnest of what shall be done for you.”
“Me! why should you give me this treasure ?” said Natty,
looking earnestly at the maiden.
“Why ! have you not saved my life? did you nut rescue me
from the jaws of the beast?” exclaimed Elizabeth, veiling her
eyes, as if to hide some hideous object from her view.
The hunter took the money, and continued turning it in his
hand for some time, piece by piece, talking aloud during the
operation. |
“ There’s a rifle, they say, out on the Cherry Valley, that will
carry a hundred rods and kill. I’ve seen good guns in my day,
but none quite equal to that. A hundred rods with any sar-
tainty is great shooting! Well, well—I’m old, and the gun I
have will answer my time. Here, child, take back your gold.
But the hour has come; I hear him talking to the cattle, and I
must be going. You won’t tell of us, gal—you won’t tell of us,
will ye?”
“Tell of you!” echoed Elizabeth. “But take the money,
old man; take the money, even if you go into the moun-
tains.”
“No, no,” said Natty, shaking his head kindly ; “I would not
rob you so for twenty rifles. But there’s one thing you can
do for me, if ye will, that no other is at hand to do.” _
“ Name it—name it.”
“Why, it’s only to buy a canister of powder ;—twill cost
two silver dollars. Benny Pump has the money ready, but we
daren’t come into the town to get it. Nobody has it but the
Frenchman. "Tis of the best, and just suits a rifle. “Will you
get it for ine, gal ?—say, will you get it for me 2”
“Will I! Iwill bring it to you, Leather-stocking, though ]
toil a day in quest of you through the woods. “But where shall
I find you, and how ?”
“Where!” said Natty, musing a moment—“ to-morrow, on
the Vision ; on the very top of the Vision, I’ll meet you, child,
THE. PIONEERS. 431
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.”
“T will do it,” said Elizabeth, firmly.
Natty now seated himself, and, placing his feet: in the hole,
with a slight effort he opened a passage through into the street.
The ladies heard the rustling of hay, and well understood the
reason why Edward was in the capacity of a teamster.
“Come, Benny,” said the hunter; “’twill be. no. darker to-
night, for the moon will rise in an hour.”
“Stay !” exclaimed Elizabeth; “it should not be said that
you escaped in the presence of the daughter of Judge Temple.
Return, Leather-stocking, and let us retire, before you execute
your plan.”
Natty was about to reply, when the aiaites footsteps of
the jailor announced the necessity of his immediate return.
He had barely time to regain 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.
“Tsn’t Miss Temple ready to go?” said the civil jailor :—* it’s
the usual hour for locking up.”
“T follow you, sir,” returned Elizabeth, “good night, Leather-
stocking.”
“Tt’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 I used to could.”
Miss Temple waved her hand for silence, and preceded
Louisa and the keeper from the apartment. The man turned
the key once, and observed that he would return and secure his
prisoners, when he had lighted the ladies to the street. Accord-
ingly, they parted at the door of the building, when the jailor
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. Edwards, and that added
to
“ae
432 THE PIONEERS.
-
“Listen !” said Elizabeth ; “TI hear the rustling of the hay;
they are escaping at this moment, Oh! they will be detected
instantly !”
By this time they were at the corner, where Edwards and
Natty were in the act of drawing the almost helpless body of
Benjamin through the aperture. The oxen had started back
from their hay, and were standing with their heads down the
street, leaving room for the party to act in.
“Throw the hay into the cart,” said Edwards, “or they will
_ suspect how it has been done. Quick, that they may not
see it.”
Natty had just returned from executing this order, when the
light of the keeper’s candle shone through the hole, and
instantly his voice was heard in the jail, exclaiming for his
prisoners.
“What is to be done now?” said Edwards—“ this drunken
fellow will cause our detection, and we have not a moment to
spare.”
“ ‘Who’s drunk, ye lubber!” muttered the steward.
“A break-jail! a break-jail!” shouted five or six voices from |
within.
“We must leave him,” said Edwards.
“ *Twouldn’t be kind, lad,” returned Natty ; “he took half
the disgrace of the stocks on himself to-day, and the creater
has feeling.”
At this moment two or three men were heard issuing seh
the door of the “ Bold Dragoon,” and among them the voice of
Billy Kirby.
“There’s no moon yet,” cried the wood-chopper ; “but it’s a
clear night. Come, who’s for home? Hark! what a rumpus
they’re kicking up in the jail—here’s go and see what it’s
about.”
“We shall be lost,” said Edwards, “if we don’t drop this
man.”
At that instant Elizabeth moved close to him, and said
rapidly, in a low voice-—
THE PIONEERS. 433
“ Lay him in the cart, and start the oxen; no one will look
there.”
“'There’s a woman’s quickness in the thought,” szid the
youth. |
The proposition was no sooner made than executed. The
steward was seated on the hay, and enjoined to hold his peace,
and apply the goad that was placed in his hand, while the oxen
were urged on. So soon as this arrangement was completed,
Edwards and the hunter stole along the houses for a short dis-
tance, when they disappeared through an opening that led into
the rear of the buildings. The oxen were in brisk motion, and .
presently the cries of pursuit were heard in the street. The
ladies quickened their pace, with a wish to escape the crowd of
constables and idlers that were approaching, some execrating,
and some laughing at the exploit of the prisoners. In the con-
fusion, the voice of Kirby was plainly distinguishable above all
the others, shouting and swearing that he would have the fugi-
tives, threatening to bring back Natty in one pocket, and Ben-
jamin in the otner.
“Spread yourselves, men,” he cried, as he passed the ladies,
his heavy feet sounding along the street like the tread of a
dozen; “spread yourselves; to the mountains; they’ll be in
the mountain in a quarter of an hour, and then look out for a
long rifle.”
His cries were echoed from twenty mouths, for not only the
jail, but the taverns had sent forth their numbers, some earnest
in the pursuit, and others joining it as in sport.
As Elizabeth turned in at her father’s gate, she saw the wood-
chopper stop at the cart, when she gave Benjamin up for lost.
While they were hurrying up the walk, two figures, stealing
cautiously but quickly under the shades of the trees, met the
eyes of the ladies, and in a moment Edwards and the hunter
erossed their path.
“Miss Temple, I may never see you again,” exclaimed the
youth ; “let me thank you for all your kindness; you do not,
cannot know, my motives.”
19
434 THE PIONEERS. rae
“Fly! fly!” cried Elizabeth :—“ the village is alarmed. Do
not be found conversing with me at such a moment, and in
these grounds.”
“ Nay, I must speak, though detection were certain.”
“Your retreat to the bridge is already cut off; before you
can gain the wood your pursuers will be thence
“Tf what?” cried the youth. “Your advice has saved me
once already; I will follow it to death.”
“The street is now silent and vacant,” said Elizabeth, after a
pause; “cross it, and you will find my father’s boat in the
lake. It would be easy to land from it where you please in the
hills.”
“ But Judge Temple might complain of the trespass.”
“His daughter shall be accountable, sir.”
The youth uttered something in a low voice, that was heard
only by Elizabeth, and turned to execute what she had sug-
gested. As they were separating, Natty approached the
females, and said—
“You'll remember the canister of powder, children. Them
beavers must be had, and I and the pups be getting old; we |
want the best of ammunition.”
“ Come, Natty,” said Edwards, impatiently.
“ Coming, lad, coming. God bless you, yong ones, both of
ye, for ye mean well and kindly to the old man.’
The ladies paused until they had lost sight of the retreating
figures, when they immediately entered the Mansion-house.
While this scene was passing in the walk, Kirby had over-
taken the cart, which was his own, and had been driven by
Edwards without asking the owner, from the place where the
patient oxen usually stood at evening, waiting the pleasure of
their master.
“ Woa—come hither, Golden,” he cried; “why, how come
you off the end of the bridge, where I left you, dummies ?”
“ Heave ahead,” muttered Benjamin, giving a random blow
with his lash, that alighted on the shoulder of the other.
“Who the devil be you?” cried Billy, turning round in sur-
THE PIONEERS. 435
prise, but unable to distinguish, in the dark, the hard visage
that was just peering over the cart-rails.
“Who be 1? why I’m helmsman aboard of this here craft,
d’ye see, and a straight wake I’m making of it. Ay, ay! I’ve
got the bridge right ahead, and the bilboes dead-aft; I calls
that good steerage, boy. Heave ahead.”
“Lay your lash in the nght spot, Mr. Benny Pump,” said
the wood-chopper, “or Dll put you in the palm of my hand,
and box your ears. Where be you going with my team ?”
“Team !”
“ Ay, my cart and oxen.”
“Why, you must know, Master Kirby, that the Leather-
stocking and I—that’s Benny Pump—you knows Ben ?—well,
Benny and I—no, me and Benny; dam’me if I know how ’tis;
but some of us are bound after a cargo of beaver-skins, d’ye
see, 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
marling-spike.”
Billy had discovered the state of the steward’s mind, and he
walked for some time alongside of the cart, musing with him-
self, 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 con-
stables.
Elizabeth stood for an hour at the window of her room, and
saw the torches of the pursuers gliding along the side of the
mountain, and heard their shouts and alarms; but, at the end
of that time, the last party returned, wearied and disappointed,
and the village became as still as when she issued from the gate
on her mission to the jail.
4.36 THE PIONEERS,
CHAPTER XXXVI.
“ And I could weep”—th’ Oneida chief
His descant wildly thus begun—
“ But that I may not stain with grief
The death song of my father's son.”’
GERTRUDE OF WYOMING.
Ir was yet early on the following morning, when Elizabeth
and Louisa met by appointment, and proceeded to the store of
Monsieur Le Quoi, in order to redeem the pledge the former
had given to the Leather-stocking. The people were again
assembling for the business of the day, but the hour was too
soon for a crowd, and the ladies found the place in possession
of its polite owner, Billy Kirby, one female customer, and the
boy who did the duty of helper or clerk.
Monsieur Le Quoi was perusing a packet of letters with
manifest delight, while the wood-chopper, with one hand thrust
in his bosom, and the other in the folds of his jacket, holding
an axe under his right arm, stood sympathizing in the French-
man’s pleasure with good-natured interest. The freedom of
manners that prevailed in the new settlements commonly
levelled all difference in rank, and with it, frequently, all con-
siderations of education and intelligence. At the time the
ladies entered the store, they were unseen by the owner, who
was saying to Kirby—
“ Ah! ha! Monsieur Beel, dis lettair mak me de most happi
of mans. Ah! ma chére France! I vill see you aga’n.”
“J rejoice, Monsieur, at anything that contributes to your
happiness,” said Elizabeth, “but hope we are not going to lose
you entirely.” |
The complaisant shopkeeper changed the language to French,
and recounted rapidly to Elizabeth his hopes of being permitted
THE PIONEERS. 437
to return to his own country. Habit had, however, so far
altered the manners of this pliable personage, that he continued
to serve the wood-chopper, who was in quest of some tobacco,
while he related to his more gentle visitor the happy change
that had taken place in the dispositions of his own countrymen.
The amount of it all was, that Mr. Le Quoi, who had fled
from his own country more through terror than because he
was offensive to the rulmg powers in France, had succeeded at
length in getting an assurance, that his return to the West
Indies would be unnoticed; and the Frenchman, who had sunk
into the character of a country shopkeeper with so much grace,
was about to emerge again from his obscurity into his proper
level in society.
We need not repeat the civil things that passed between the
parties on this occasion, nor recount the endless repetitions of
sorrow that the delighted Frenchman expressed, at being com-
pelled to quit the society of Miss Temple. Elizabeth took an
opportunity, during this expenditure of polite expressions, to
purchase the powder privately of the boy, who bore the generic
appellation of Jonathan. Before they parted, however, Mr. Le
Quoi, who seemed to think that he had not said enough, soli-
cited the honor of a private interview with the heiress, with a
eravity in his air that announced the importance of the subject.
After conceding the favor, and appointing a more favorable
time for the meeting, Elizabeth succeeded in getting out of the
store, into which the countrymen now began to enter, as usual,
where they met with the same attention and biensé¢ance as
formerly.
_ Elizabeth and Louisa pursued their walk as far as the bridge
m profound silence; but when they reached that place, the
latter stopped, and appeared anxious to utter something that
her diffidence suppressed.
* Are you ill, Louisa?” exclaimed Miss Temple; “had we
not better return, and seek another opportunity to meet the old
man?”
“Not ill, but terrified. Oh! I never,-never can go on that
438 THE PIONEERS.
hill again with you only. Iam not equal to it, indeed I am
not.”
This was an unexpected declaration to Elizabeth, who,
although she experienced no idle apprehension of a danger
that no longer existed, felt most sensitively all the delicacy of
maiden modesty. She stood for some time, deeply reflecting
within herself; but, sensible it was a time for action instead of
reflection, she struggled to shake off her hesitation, and replied
firmly— ;
“Well, then it must be done by me alone. There is no
other than yourself to be trusted; or poor old Leather-stocking
will be discovered. Wait for me in the edge of these woods,
that at least I may not be seen strolling in the hills by myself
just now. One would not wish to create remarks, Louisa—if
—if— You will wait for me, dear girl ?”
“A year, in sight of the village, Miss Temple,” returned
the agitated Louisa, “but do not, do not ask me to go on that
hill.”
Elizabeth found that her companion was really unable to
vroceed, and they completed their arrangement by posting
Louisa out of the observation of the people who occasionally
passed, but nigh the road, and in plain view of the whole
valley. Miss Temple then proceeded alone. She ascended the
road which has been so often mentioned in our narrative, with
an elastic and firm step, fearful that the delay in the store of
Mr. Le Quoi, and the time necessary for reaching the summit,
would prevent her being punctual to the appointment. When-
ever she passed an opening in the bushes, she would pause for
breath, or, perhaps, drawn from her pursuit by the picture at
her feet, would linger a moment to gaze at the beauties of the
valley. The long drought had, however, changed its coat of
verdure to a hue of brown, and, though the same localities
were there, the view wanted the lively and cheering aspect of
early summer. Even the heavens seemed to share in the dried
appearance of the earth, for the sun was concealed by a hazi-
ness in the atmosphere, which looked like a thin smoke without
THE PIONEERS. 439
a particle of moisture, if such a thing were possible. The blue
sky was scarcely to be seen, though now and then there was a
faint lighting up in spots, through which masses of rolling
vapor could be discerned gathering around the horizon, as if
nature were struggling to collect her floods for the relief of man.
The very atmosphere that Elizabeth inhaled was hot and dry,
and by the time she reached the point where the course led
her from the highway, she experienced a sensation like suffoca-
tion. But, disregarding her feelings, she hastened to execute
her mission, dwelling on nothing but the disappointment, and even
the helplessness, the hunter would experience, without her aid.
On the summit of the mountain which Judge Temple had
named the “Vision,” a little spot had been cleared, in order
that a better view might be obtained of the village and the val-
ley. At this point Elizabeth understood the hunter she was to
meet him; and thither she urged her way, as expeditiously as
the difficulty of the ascent, and the impediments of a forest, in a
state of nature, would admit. Numberless were the fragments
of rocks, trunks of fallen trees, and branches, with which she
had to contend; but every difficulty vanished before her resolu-
tion, and by her own watch, she stood on the desired spot
several minutes before the appointed hour.
After resting a moment on the end of a log, Miss Temple
east a glance about her in quest of her old friend, but he was
evidently not in the clearing ; she arose and walked around its
skirts, examining every place where she thought it probable
Natty might deem it prudent to conceal himself. Her search
was fruitless; and, after exhausting not only herself, but her
conjectures, in efforts to discover or imagine his situation, she
ventured to trust her voice in that solitary place.
“Natty ! Leather-stocking! old man!” she called aloud, in
every direction; but no answer was given, excepting the rever-
berations of her own clear tones, as they were echoed in the
varched forest.
Elizabeth approached the brow of the mountain, where a
faint ery, like the noise produced by striking the hand against
440 THE PIONEERS.
the mouth, at the same time that the breath is strongly exhaled,
was heard answering to her own voice. Not doubting in’ the
least that it was the Leather-stocking lying in wait for her, and
who gave that signal to indicate the place where he was to be
found, Elizabeth descended’ for near a hundred feet, until she
gained a little natural terrace, thinly scattered with trees, that
grew in the fissures of the rocks, which were covered by a
scanty soil. She had advanced to the edge of this platform,
and was gazing over the perpendicular precipice that formed its
face, when a rustling among the dry leaves near her drew her
eyes in another direction. Our heroine certainly was startled
by the object that she then saw, but a moment restored her self-
possession, and she advanced firmly, and with some interest in
her manner, to the spot.
Mohegan was seated on the trunk of a fallen oak, with his
tawny visage turned towards her, and his eyes fixed on her face
with an expression of wildness and fire, that would have terrified
a less resolute female. His blanket had fallen from his shoul-
ders, and was lying in folds around him, leaving his breast,
arms, and most of his body bare. The medallion of Washing-
ton reposed on his chest, a badge of distinction that Elizabeth
well knew he only produced on great and solemn cccasions.
But the whole appearance of the aged chief was more studied
than common, and in some particulars it was terrific. The
long black hair was plaited on his head, falling away, so as to
expose his high forehead and piercing eyes. In the enormous
incisions of his ears were entwined ornaments of silver, beads,
and porcupine’s quills, mingled in a rude taste, and after the
Indian fashions. A large drop, composed of similar materials,
was suspended from the cartilage of his nose, and, falling below
his lips, rested on his chin. Streaks of red paint crossed his
wrinkled brow, and were traced down his cheeks, with such
variations in the lines as caprice or custom suggested. His
body was also colored in the same manner; the whole exhibit-
ing an Indian warrior, prepared for some event of more than
usual moment.
THE PIGNEERS. : 441
“John! how fare you, worthy John ?” said Elizabeth, as she
approached him ; “ you have long been a stranger in the village.
You promised me a willow basket, and I have long had a shirt
of calico in readiness for you.”
The Indian looked steadily at her for some time without
answering, and then, shaking his head, he replied, in his low,
guttural tones—
“John’s hand can make baskets no more—he wants no
shirt.” |
“ But if he should, he will know where to come for it,”
returned Miss Temple. “ Indeed, old John, I feel as if you had
a natural right to order what you will from us.”
“Daughter,” said the Indian, “‘listen:—Six times ten hot
summers have passed. since John was young; tall like a pine;
straight like the bullet of Hawk-eye; strong as the buffalo ; spry
as the cat of the mountain. He was strong, and a warrior like
the Young Eagle. If his tribe wanted to track the Maquas for
many suns, the eye of Chingachgook found the print of their
moccasins. If the people feasted and were glad, as they counted
the scalps of their enemies, it was on his pole they hung. If
_ the squaws cried because there was no meat for their children,
he was the first in the chase. His bullet was swifter than the
deer.—Daughter, then Chingachgook struck his tomahawk into
the trees; it was to tell the lazy ones where to find him and
the Mingoes—but he made no baskets.”
“Those times have gone by, old warrior,” returned Eliza-
beth ; “since then your people have disappeared, and, in place
of chasing ain enemies, you have learned to fear God and to
live at peace.”
“Stand here, daughter, ratte you can see the great spring,
the wigwams of your father, and the land on the crooked river.
John was young when his tribe gave away the eountry, in coun-
cil, from where the blue mountain stands above the water, to
where the Susquehanna is hid by the trees. All this, and all
that grew in it, and all that walked over it, and all that fed
there, they gave to the Fire eater—for they loved him. He was
¥
\e
442 THE PIONEERS.
strong, and they were women, and he helped them. No Dela-
ware would kill a deer that ran in his woods, nor stop a bird
that flew over his land; for it was his. Has John lived in
neace? Daughter, since John was young, he has seen the
white man from Frontinac come down on his white brothers at
Albany and fight. Did they fear God? He has seen his
English and his American fathers burying their tomahawks in
each other’s brains, for this very land. Did they fear God, and
live in peace? He has seen the land pass away from the Fire-
eater, and his children, and the child of his child, and a new
chief set over the country. Did they live in peace who did
this? did they fear God ?” L
“ Such is the custom of the whites, John. Do not the Dela-
wares fight, and exchange their lands for powder, and blankets,
and merchandise ?”
The Indian turned his dark eyes on his companion, and kept
them there with a scrutiny that alarmed her a little.
“Where are the blankets and merchandise that bought the
right of the Fire-eater ?” he replied, in a more animated voice ;
“are they with him in his wigwam? Did they say to him,
Brother, sell us your land, and take this gold, this silver, these
blankets, these rifles, or even this ram? 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,” said Eliza-
beth, more embarrassed than she would own, even to herself.
“Tf you knew our laws and customs better, you would judge
differently of our acts. Do not believe evil of my father, old
Mohegan, for he is just and good.”
“The brother of Miquon is good, and he will do right. I
have said it to Hawk-eye—I have said it to the Young Eagle,
that the brother of Miquon would do justice.”
“Whom call you the Young Eagle” said Elizabeth, avert:
ing her face from the gaze of the Indian, as she asked the
question ; “ whence comes he, and what are his rights ?”
_
~
THE PLONEERS. 448
“Has my daughter lived so long with him to ask this ques-
tion ?” returned the Indian warily. “Old age freezes up the
blood, as the frosts cover the great spring in winter; but
youth keeps the streams of the blood open like a sun in the
time of blossoms. The Young Eagle has eyes; had he no
tongue ?”
The loveliness to which the old warrior alluded was in no
degree diminished by his allegorical speech; for the blushes of
the maiden who listened covered her burning cheeks, till her
dark eyes seemed to glow with their reflection; but, after strug-
gling a moment with shame, she laughed, as if unwilling to
understand him seriously, and replied in pleasantry—
“ Not to make me the mistress of his secret. Heis too much
of a Delaware to tell his secret thoughts to a woman.”
“ Daughter, the Great Spirit made your father with a white
skin, and he made mine with a red; but he colored both their
hearts with blood. When young, it is swift and warm; but
when old, it is still and cold. Is there difference below
the skin? No. Once John had a woman. She was the
mother of so many sons’—he raised his hand with three
fingers elevated—“ and, she had daughters that would have
made the young Delawares happy. She was kind, daughter,
and what I said she did. You have different fashions ; but do
you think John did not love the wife of his youth—the mother
of his children ?”
“ And what has become of your family, John, your wife and
your children ?” asked Elizabeth, touched by the Indian’s
manner.
“ Where is*the ice that covered the great spring? It is
melted, and gone with the waters. John has lived till all his
people have left him for the land of spirits ; his time has come,
and he is ready.” 7
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
444 THE PIONEERS
repressed her efforts to speak. After a long pause, however,
she renewed the discourse, by asking—
“ Where is the Leather-stocking, John? I have brought this
canister of powder at his request ; but he is nowhere to be seen.
Will you take charge of it, and see it delivered ?”
The Indian raised his head slowly, and looked earnestly at tho
gift, which she put into his hand.
“This is the great enemy of my nation. Without this, when
could the white men drive the Delawares? Daughter, the
Great Spirit gave your fathers to know how to make guns and
powder, that they might sweep the Indians from the land.
There will soon be no redskin in the country. When John has
gone, the last will leave these hills, and his family will be dead.”
The aged warrior stretched his body forward, leaning an elbow
- on his knee, and ‘appeared to be taking a parting look at the
objects of the vale, which were still visible through the misty
atmosphere, though the air seemed to thicken at each moment
around Miss Temple, who became conscious of an increased dif-
ficulty of respiration. The eye of Mohegan changed gradually
from its sorrowful expression to a look of wildness that might
be supposed to border on the inspiration of a prophet, as he
continued——“ But he will go 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 be for children; and all just red men shall live
together as brothers.”
“John! this is not the heaven of a Christian !” eried Miss
Temple ; “ you deal now in the superstition 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 me, John,” said Elizabeth, willing to draw his thoughts
to otner subjects, and at the same time yielding to her own
powerful interest in the youth; “who is this Mr. Edwards ?
why are you so fond of him, and whence does he come ?”
The Indian started at the question, which evidently recalled
THE PIONEERA. | .. 445
his recollection to earth. Taking her hand, he drew Miss
Temple to a seat beside him, and pointed to the country
beneath them—
“See, daughter,” he said, directing her looks towards the
north ; “as far as your young eyes can see, it was the land of
his
But immense volumes of smoke at that moment rolled over
their heads, and, whirling in the eddies formed by the moun-
tains, interposed a barrier to their sight, while he was speaking.
- Startled by this circumstance, Miss Temple sprang on her feet,
and turning her eyes towards the summit of the mountain, she
beheld it covered by a similar canopy, while a roaring sound
was heard in the forest above her like the rushing of winds.
“ What means it, John!” she exclaimed; “ we are enveloped
in smoke, and I feel a heat like the glow of a furnace.”
Before the Indian could reply, a voice was heard crying in
the woods— |
“John! where are you, old Snape the woods are on
fire, and you have but a minute for escape.”
The chief put his hand before his mouth, and making it lay
on his lips, produced the kind of noise that had attracted Eliza-
beth to the place, when a quick and hurried step was heard
dashing through the dried underbrush and _ bushes, and
presently Edwards rushed to his side, with horror in every
feature.
446 THE PIONEERS,
CHAPTER XXXVII.
Love rules the court, the camp, the grove.
Lay or THE LasT MINSTREL.
“Ir would have been sad, indeed, to lose you in such a
manner, my old friend,” said Oliver, catching his breath for
utterance. “Up and away! even now we may be too late;
the flames are circling round the point of the rock below, and,
unless we can pass there, our only chance must be over the
precipice. Away! away! shake off your apathy, John; now
is the time of need.” |
Mohegan pointed towards Elizabeth, who, forgetting her
danger, had shrunk back to a projection of the rock as soon as
she recognised the sounds of Edwards’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 bending towards him in an attitude that power-
fully spoke terror, blended with reluctance to meet him in such
a place, the shock deprived him of speech.
“Miss Temple !” he cried, when he found words ; “ you here!
is such a death reserved for you !”
“ No, no, no—no death, I hope, for any of us, Mr. Edwards,”
she replied, endeavoring to speak calmly : “ there is smoke, but
no fire to harm us. Let us endeavor to retire.”
“Take my arm,” said Edwards; “ there must be an opening
in some direction for your retreat. Are you equal to the
effort ?”
“Certainly. You surely magnify the danger, Mr. Edwards.
Lead me out the way you came.”
“T will—I will,” cried the youth with a kind of hysterical
THE ~ PIONEERS. 447
utterance. “ No, no—there is no danger—I have alarmed you
unnecessarily.”
“ But shall we leave the Indian—can we leave him, as he
says, to die ?”
An expression of painful emotion crossed the face of the
young man; he stopped, and cast a longing look at Mohegan ;
but, dragging his companion after him, even against her will,
he pursued his way with enormous strides towards the pass by
which he had just entered the circle of flame.
“Do not regard him,” he said, in those tones that denote a
desperate calmness; “he is used to the woods, and such
scenes ; and he will escape up the mountain—over the rock—
or he can remain where he is in safety.”
“You thought not so this moment, Edwards! Do not leave
him there to meet with such a death,” cried Elizabeth, fixing a
look on the countenance of her conductor that seemed to distrust
his sanity.
“ An Indian burn! 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! tell me the
danger ; is it greater than it seems? Iam equal to any trial ?”
“Tf we reach the point of yon rock before that sheet of fire,
we are safe, Miss Temple!” exclaimed the young man, in a
voice that burst without the bounds of his forced composure.
“Fly ! the struggle is for life!”
The place of the interview between Miss Temple and the
Indian has already been described as one of those platforms of
rock, which form a sort of terrace in the mountains of that
country, and the face of it, we have said, was both high and
perpendicular. Its shape was nearly a natural are, 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 termina-
tions of the sweep of the rock that Edwards had ascended, and
it was towards the same place that he urged Elizabeth to a
desperate exertion of speed.
448 THE PIONEERS.
Immense clouds of white smoke had been pouring over the
summit of the mountain, and had concealed the approach and
ravages of the element; but a crackling sound drew the eyes
of Miss Temple, as she flew over the ground, supported by the
young man, towards the outline of smoke, where she already
perceived the waving flames shooting forward from the vapor,
cow flaring high in the air, and then bending to the earth,
seeming to light into combustion every stick and shrub on
which they breathed. The sight aroused them to redoubled
efforts; but, unfortunately, a collection of the tops of trees, old
and dried, lay directly across their course; and, at the very
moment when both had thought their safety insured, the warm
currents of the air swept a forked tongue of flame across the
pile, which lighted at the touch; and when they reached the
spot, the flying pair were opposed by the surly roaring of a body
of fire, as if a furnace were glowing in their path. They recoiled
from the heat, and stood on a point of the rock, gazing in a
stupor at the flames, which were spreading rapidly down the
mountain, whose side soon became a sheet of living fire. It
was dangerous for one clad in the light and airy dress of Eliza-
beth to approach even the vicinity of the raging element; and
those flowing robes, that gave such softness and grace to her
form, seemed now to be formed for the instruments of her
destruction.
The villagers were accustomed to resort to that hill in quest
of timber and fuel; in procuring which, it was their usage to
take only the bodies of the trees, leaving the tops and branches
to decay under the operations of the weather. Much of the
hill was, consequently, covered with such light fuel, which,
having been scorched under the sun for the last two months,
was ignited with a touch. Indeed, in some cases, there did
not appear to be any contact between the fire and these piles,
but the flames seemed to dart from heap to heap, as the fabu-
lous fire of the temple is represented to reillume its neglected
lamp. .
There was beauty as well as terror in the sight, and Edwards
THE PIONEERS. 449
and Elizabeth stood viewing the progress of the desolation,
with a strange mixture of horror and interest. The former,
however, shortly roused himself to new exertions, and drawing
his éompanion after him, they skirted the edge of the smoke,
the young man penetrating frequently into its dense volumes in
search of a passage, but in every instance without success. In
this manner they proceeded in a semicircle around the upper
part of the terrace, until, arriving at the verge of the precipice,
opposite to the point where Edwards had ascended, the horrid
conviction burst on both at the same instant, that they were
completely encircled by the fire. So long as a single pass up
or down the mountain was unexplored, there was hope; but
when retreat seemed to be absolutely impracticable, the horror
of their situation broke upon Elizabeth as powerfully as if she
had hitherto considered the danger light.
“This mountain is doomed to be fatal to me!” she whisper-
ed ;—“ we shall find our graves on it!”
“Say not so, Miss Temple; there is yet hope,” returned the
youth, in the same tone, while the vacant expression of his eye
contradicted his words: “let us return to the point of the rock ;
there is—there must be—some place about it where we can
descend.”
“Lead me there,” exclaimed Elizabeth; “Jet us leave no
effort untried.” She did not wait for his compliance, but,
turning, retraced her steps to the brow of the precipice, mur-
muring to herself, in suppressed, hysterical sobs, “ My father!
my poor, my distracted father !”
Edwards was by her side in an instant, and with aching eyes
he examined every fissure in the crags, in quest of some opening
that might offer facilities for flight. But the smooth, even
surface of the rocks afforded hardly a resting-place for a foot,
much less those continued projections which would have been
necessary for a descent of nearly a hundred feet. Edwards was
not slow in feeling the conviction that this hope was also futile,
and, with a kind of feverish despair that still urged him to
action, he turned to some new expedient.
450 THE PIONEERS.
“There is nothing left, Miss Temple,” he said, “ but to lower
you from this place to the rock beneath. If Natty were here,
or even that Indian could be roused, their ingenuity and long
practice would easily devise methods to do it; but I am a child
at this moment in everything but daring. Where shall I find
means? This dress of mine is so light, and there is so little of
it—then the blanket of Mohegan ;—we must try—we must try
-——anything is better than to see you a victim to such a
death!”
“ And what will become of you?” said Elizabeth. “Indeed,
‘indeed, neither you nor John must be sacrificed to my safety.”
He heard her not, for he was already by the side of Mohegan,
who yielded his blanket without a question, retaining his seat
with Indian dignity and composure, though his own situation
was even more critical than that of the others. The blanket
was cut into shreds, and the fragments fastened together; the
loose linen jacket of the youth, and the light muslin shawl of
Elizabeth, were attached to them, and the whole thrown over
the rocks, with the rapidity of lightning; but the united pieces
did not reach half way to the bottom.
“Tt will not do—it will not do!” cried Elizabeth; “ for me
there is no hope! The fire comes slowly, but certainly. See, ,
it destroys the very earth before it!”
Had the flames spread on that rock with half the quicktiess
with which they leaped from bush to tree, in other parts of the*
mountain, our painful task would have soon ended; for they
would have consumed already the captives they inclosed. But
the peculiarity of their situation afforded Elizabeth and her
companion the respite of which they had availed themselves to
make the efforts we have recorded.
The thin covering of earth on the rock supported but a scanty
and faded herbage, and most of the trees that had found root in
the fissures had already died, during the intense heats of pre-
ceding summers. Those which still retained the appearance of
life bore a few dry and withered leaves, while the others were
merely the wrecks of pines, oaks, and maples. No better mate-
THE PIONEERS. 451
rials to feed the fire could be found, had there been a communi-
cation with the flames; but the ground was destitute of the
brush that led the destructive element, like a torrent, over the
remainder of the hill. As auxiliary to this scarcity of fuel, one
_of the large springs which abound in that country gushed out
of the side of the ascent above, and, after creeping sluggishly
along the level land, saturating the mossy covering of the rock
with moisture, it swept 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, but in the droughts of summer it
was to be traced only by the bogs and moss that announced
the proximity of water. When the fire reached this barrier, it
was compelled to pause, until a concentration of its heat could
overcome the moisture, like an army waiting the operations of -
a battering train, to open its way to desolation.
That fatal moment seemed now to have arrived, for the hiss-
ing steams of the spring appeared to be nearly exhausted, and
the moss of the rocks was already curling under the intense
heat, while fragments of bark, that yet clung to the dead trees,
began to separate from their trunks, and fall to the ground in
crumbling masses. The air seemed quivering with rays of heat,
which might be seen playing along the parched stems of the
trees. There were moments when dark clouds of smoke would
sweep along the little terrace; and, as the eye lost its power,
the other senses contributed to give effect to the fearful horror
of the scene. At such moments, the roaring of the flames, the
crackling of the furious element, with the tearing of falling
branches, and, occasionally, the thundering echoes of some
falling tree, united to alarm the victims. Of the three, how-
ever, the youth appeared much the most agitated. Elizabeth,
haying relinquished entirely the idea of escape, was fast obtain-
ing that resigned composure with which the most delicate of
her sex are sometimes known to meet unavoidable evils; while
452 THE PIONEERS.
Mohegan, who was much nearer to the danger, maintained his
seat with the invincible resignation of an Indian warrior. Once
or twice the eye of the aged chief, which was ordinarily fixed in
the direction of the distant hills, turned towards the young pair,
who seemed doomed to so early a death, with a slight indication
of pity crossing his composed features, but it would immediately
revert again to its former gaze, as if already looking into the
womb of futurity. Much of the time he was chanting a kind
of low dirge, in the Delaware tongue, using the deep and
remarkably guttural tones of his people.
“ At such a moment, Mr. Edwards, all earthly distinctions:
end,” whispered Elizabeth ; “persuade John to move nearer to
us—let us die together.”
“I cannot—he will not stir,” returned the youth, in the same
horridly still tones. “He considers this as the happiest moment
of his life. He is past seventy, and has been decaying rapidly
for some time: he received some injury in chasing that unlucky
deer, too, on the lake. Oh! Miss Temple that was an unlucky
chase indeed! it has led, I fear, to this awful scene.”
The smile of Elizabeth was celestial; “ Why name such a
trifle now—at this moment the heart is dead to all earthly
emotions !” ;
“Tf anything could reconcile a man to this death,” cried the
youth, “it would be to meet it in such company!”
“Talk not so, Edwards, talk not so,” interrupted Miss Temple.
“Tam unworthy of it; and itis unjust to yourself. We must
die ; yes—yes—we must die—it is the will of God, and let us
endeavor to submit like his own children.”
“Die!” the youth rather shrieked than exclaimed, “ No—no
—no—there must yet be hope—you at least must not, shall not
die.”
“In what way can we escape?” asked Elizabeth, pointing
with a look of heavenly composure towards the fire. “Observe!
the flame is crossing the barrier of wet ground—it comes slowly
Edwards, but surely —Ah! see! the tree! the tree is already
lighted !”
THE PIONEERS, 453
Her words were too true. The heat of the conflagration had
at length overcome the resistance of the spring, and the fire
was slowly stealing along the half-dried moss; while a dead
pine kindled with the touch of a forked flame, that, for a moment,
wreathed around the stem of the tree, as it whirled, in one of
its evolutions, under the influence of the air. The effect was
instantaneous. The flames danced along the parched trunk of
the pine, like lightning quivering on a chain, and immediately a
column of living fire was raging on the terrace. It soon spread
from tree to tree: and thé scene was evidently drawing to a
close. The log on which Mohegan was seated lighted at its
further end, and the Indian appeared to be surrounded by fire.
Still he was unmoved. As his body was unprotected, his
sufferings must have been great; but his fortitude was superior
to all. His voice could yet be heard even in the midst of these
horrors. Elizabeth turned her head from the sight, and faced
the valley. Furious eddies of wind were created by the heat,
and just at the moment, the canopy of fiery smoke that overhung
the valley was cleared away, leaving a distinct view of the
peaceful village beneath them.
“My father !—my father!” shrieked Elizabeth. “Oh! this
-—this surely might have been spared me—but I submit.”
The distance was not so great but the figure of Judge Temple
could be seen, standing in his own grounds, and apparently
contemplating, in perfect unconsciousness of the danger of his
child, the mountain in flames. This sight was still more painful
than the approaching danger ; and Elizabeth again faced the hill.
_. “My intemperate warmth has done this!” cried Edwards, in
the accents of despair. “If I had possessed but a moiety of
your heavenly resignation, Miss Temple, all might yet have
been well.”
“Name it not—name it not,” she said. “It is now of no
avail. We must die, Edwards, we must die—let us do so as
Christians. But-—-no—you may yet escape, perhaps. Your
dress is not so fatal as mine. Fly! Leave me. An opening
may yet be found for you, possibly—certainly it is worth the
454 THE PIONEERS
effort. Fly! leave me—but stay! You will see my father ;
my poor, my bereaved father! Say to him, then, Edwaids, say
to him, all that can appease his anguish. Tell him that I died
happy and collected ; that 1 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, ta
my love for God.” .
The youth listened to her touching accents, but moved not.
In a moment he found utterance, and replied :—
“ And is it me that you command to leave you! to leave you
on the edge of the grave! Oh! Miss Temple, how little have
you known me!” he cried, dropping on his knees at her feet,
and gathering her flowing robe in his arms as if to shield her
from the flames. “I have been driven to the woods in despair;
but your society has tamed the lion within me. If I have
wasted my time in degradation, ’twas you that charmed me to
it. IfI have forgotten my name and family, your form supplied
the place of memory. If I have forgotten my wrongs, ’twas
you that taught me charity. No—no—dearest Elizabeth, I may
die with you, but I can never leave you !”
Elizabeth moved not, nor answered. It was plain that her
thoughts had been raised from the earth. The recollection of
her father, and her regrets at their separation, had been mellowed
by a holy sentiment, that lifted her above the level of earthly
things, and she was fast losing the weakness of her sex in the
near view of eternity. But as she listened to these words she
became once more woman. She struggled against these feelings,
and smiled, as she thought she was shaking off the last lingering
feeling of nature, when the world, and all its seductions, rushed
again to her heart, with the sounds of a human voice, crying in
piercing tones—
“ Gal! where be ye, gal! gladden the heart of an old man,
if ye yet. belong to ’arth !”
THE PIONEERS.
457
“List!” said Elizabeth, “’tis the Leather-s Pn ahad senate
me 0 that varmint who
“Tis Natty !” shouted Edwards, “ and we may yet be saved :
A wide and circling flame glared on their eyes for a moment,
even above the fire of the woods, and a loud report followed.
“°Tis the canister! ’tis the powder,” cried the same voice,
evidently approaching them. “Tis the canister, and the precious
child is lost !”
At the next instant Natty rushed through the steams of the
spring, and appeared on the terrace, without his deer-skin cap,
his hair burnt to his head, his shirt, of country check, black and
filled with holes, and his red features of a deeper color than ever,
by the heat he had encountered.
454 THE PIONEERS.
effort. Fly! leav:
my poor, my bere
ees \
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 terror of Louisa
gradually increased, until her alarmed fancy had conjured every
species of danger that appertained to the woods, excepting the
one that really existed. The heavens had become obscured by
degrees, and vast volumes of smoke were pouring over the valley ;
but the thoughts of Louisa were still recurring to beasts, without
dreaming of the real cause for apprehension. She was stationed
in the edge of the low pines and chestnuts that succeed the first
or large growth of the forest, and directly above the angle where
the highway turned from the straight course to the village,
and ascended the mountain, laterally. Consequently, she com-
manded a view not only of the valley, but of the road beneath
her. The few travellers that passed, she observed, were engaged
in earnest conversation, and frequently raised their eyes to the
hill, and at length she saw the people leaving the court-house,
and gazing upwards also. While under the influence of the alarm
excited by such unusual movements, reluctant ‘to go, and yet
fearful to remain, Louisa was startled by the low, cracking, but
cautious treads of some one approaching through the bushes.
She was on the eve of flight, when Natty emerged from the
cover, and stood at her side. The old man laughed as he shook
her kindly by a hand that was passive with fear.
“Tam glad to meet you here, child,” he said; “ for the back
of the mountain is a-fire, and it would he dangerous to go up
THE PIONEERS. 457
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 whe
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 upon his busi-
ness, 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 were more to be
found; they’d count up faster than the beaver. 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 several feet at this unexpected intelligence.
“The Lord of Heaven have mercy on her! She’s on the
Vision, and that’s a sheet. of fire ag’in this. Child, if ye love
the dear one, and hope to find a friend when ye need it most,
to the village, and give the alarm. The men are used to fight-
ing fire, and there may be a chance left. Fly! I bid ye fly!
nor stop even for breath.”
The Leather-stocking had no sooner uttered this injunction,
than he disappeared in the bushes, and when last seen by
Louisa, was rushing up the mountain, with a speed that none
but those who were accustomed to the toil could attain.
“Have I found ye!” the old man exclaimed, when he burst
out of the smoke; “God be praised that I’ve found ye; but
follow,—there’s no time for talking.”
“My dress!” said Elizabeth ; “ it would be fatal to trust
myself nearer to the flames in it.”
“T bethought me of your flimsy things,” cried Natty, throwing
loose the folds of a covering of buckskin that he carried on his
arm, and wrapping her form in it, in such a manner as to
20
458 THE PIONEERS.
envelope her whole person; “now follow, fur it’s a matter of
life and death to us all.”
“But John! what wilt become of John ?” cried Edwards;
“ can we leave the old warrior here to perish ?”
The eyes of Natty followed the direction of Edwards’s finger,
when he beheld the Indian still seated as before, with the very
earth under his feet consuming with fire. Without delay the
hunter approached the spot, and spoke in Delaware—
“Up and away, Chingachgook! will ye stay here to burn,
like a Mingo at the stake? The Moravians have teached ye
better, I hope ; the Lord preserve me if the powder hasn’t
flashed atween his legs, and the skin of his back is roasting.
Will ye come, I say; will ye follow?”
“Why should Mohegan go?” returned the Indian gloomily.
“He has seen the days of an eagle, and his eye grows dim.
He looks on the valley ; he looks on the water; he looks in the
hunting-grounds—but he sees no Delawares. Every one has a
white skin. My fathers say, from the far-off land, come. My
women, my young warriors, my tribe, say, come. The Great
Spirit says, come. Let Mohegan die.”
“But vou forget your friend,” cried Edwards.
“Tis useless to talk to an Indian with the death-fit on him,
lad,” interrupted Natty, who seized the strips of the blanket,
and with wonderful dexterity strapped the passive chieftain to
his own back; when he turned, and with a strength that
seemed to bid defiance, not only to his years, but to his load,
he led the way to the point whence he had issued. As they
crossed the little terrace of rock, one of the dead trees, that had
been tottering for several minutes, fell on the spot where they
had stood, and filled the air with its cinders.
Such an event quickened the steps of the party, who followed
the Leather-stocking with the urgency required by the occasion.
“Tread on the soft ground,” he cried, when they were in a
gloom where sight availed them but little, “and keep in the
white smoke; keep the skin close on her, lad; she’s a precious
one, another will be hard to be found.”
THE PIONEERS. 45Y
Obedient to the hunter’s directions, they followed his steps
and advice implicitly ; and although the narrow passage along
the winding of the spring led amid burning logs and falling
branches, they happily achieved it in safety. No one but a
man long accustomed to the woods, could have traced his route
through a smoke, in which respiration was difficult, and sight
nearly useless ; but the experience of Natty conducted them to
an opening through the rocks, where, with a little difficulty,
they soon descended to another terrace, and emerged at once
into a tolerably clear atmosphere.
The feelings of Edwards and Elizabeth at reaching this spot
may be imagined, though not easily described. Noone seemed
to exult more than their guide, who turned, with Mohegan still
lashed to his back, and laughing in his own manner, said—
“T know’d ’twas the Frenchman’s powder, gal; it went. so
altogether; 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 scrimmage with 4
“For God’s sake, tell me nothing now, Natty, until we are
entirely safe. Where shall we go next ?”
“Why, on the platform of rock over the cave, to be sure;
you will be safe enough there, or we'll go into it, if you be so
minded.”
The young man started, and appeared agitated ; but looking
around him with an anxious eye, said quickly—
“ Shall we be safe on the rock? cannot the fire reach us
there, too ?”
“Can’t the boy see?” said Natty, with the coolness of one
accustomed to the kind of danger he had just encountered.
“Had ye stayed in the place above ten minutes longer, you
would both have been in ashes, but here you may stay 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 pro-
eeeded to the spot, and Natty deposited his load, placing the
460 THE PIONEERS.
Indian on the ground with his back against a fragment of the
rocks. Elizabeth sank on the ground, and buried her face in
her hands, while her heart was swelling with a variety of con-
flicting emotions.
“Tet me urge you to take a restorative, Miss Temple,” said
Edwards respectfully ; “your frame will sink else.”
‘Leave me, leave me,” she said, raising her beaming eyes for a
moment to his; “I feel too much for words! I am grateful,
Oliver, for this miraculous escape; and next to my God to
you.”
Edwards withdrew to the edge of the rock, and shouted—
“ Benjamin! where are you, Benjamin ?”
A hoarse voice replied, as if from the bowels of the earth,
“ Hereaway, master; stowed in this here bit of a hole, which
is all the same as hot as the cook’s coppers. I’m tired of my
berth, d’ye see, and ifso-be that Leather-stocking has got much
over-hauling to do before ‘he sails after them said beaver, I'll go
into dock again, and ride out my quarantine till I can get prot-
tick from the law, and so hold on upon the rest of my ’spa-
niolas.”
“Bring up a glass of water from the spring,” continued
Edwards, “and throw a little wine in it; hasten, I entreat
you 2”
“T 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 Jamaiky 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 color that may suit a weak
stomach, mayhap. That Master Kirby is no first rate in a —
boat; but he’ll tack a cart among the stumps, all the same as a
Lon’on pilot will back and fill through the colliers in the Pool.”
As the steward ascended while talking, by the time he had
ended his speech, he appeared on the rock with the desired resto-
ratives, exhibiting the worn-out and bloated features of a man
‘who had run deep in a debauch, and that lately.
THE PIONEERS. 461
Elizabeth took from the hands of Edwards the liquor which
he offered, and then motioned to be left again to herself.
The youth turned at her bidding, and observed Natty kindly
assiduous around.the person of Mohegan, When their eyes
met, the hunter said sorrowfully—
“His time has come, lad; I see it in his eyes ;—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 prevented the reply, and in a few moments,
to the amazement of the whole party, Mr. Grant was seen
clinging to the side of the mountain, and striving to reach the
place where they stood. Oliver sprang to his assistance, and by
their united efforts the worthy divine was soon placed safely
among them.
“How came you added to our number?” cried Edwards.
“Ts the hill alive with people at a time like this ?”
The hasty but pious thanksgivings of the clergyman were
soon ejaculated; and when he succeeded in collecting his
bewildered senses, he replied—-
“T heard that my child was seen coming to the mountain ; ;
and when the fire broke over its summit, my uneasiness drew
me up the road, where I found Louisa, in terror for Miss Temple.
It was to seek her that I came into this dangerous place; and
I think, but for God’s mercy, through the dogs of Natty, I
should have perished in the flames myself.”
“ Ay! follow the hounds, and if there’s an opening they’ll
scent it out,” said Natty; “their noses be given them the same
as man’s reason.”
“TI did so, and they led me to this place; but, praise be to
God, that I see you all safe and well.”
“ No, no,” returned the hunter; “safe we be, but as for well,
John can’t be called in a good way, unless you'll say that for a
man that’s taking his last look at ’arth.”
“He speaks the truth !” said the divine, with the holy awe
with which he ever approached the dying ;—“I have been by
too many death-beds, not to see that the hand of the tyrant is
462 THE PIONEERS.
laid on this old warrior. Oh! how consoling it is to know
that he has not rejected the offered mercy in the hour of his
strength and of worldly temptations! The offspring of a race
of heathens, he has in truth been ‘as a brand.plucked from the
burning.”
“No, no,” returned Natty, who alone stood with him by the
side of the dying warrior, “it’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 towards the speaker, and
fastened his dark eyes on him, steadily, but vacantly. No sign
of recognition was made; and in a moment he moved his head
again slowly towards the vale, and began to sing, using his own
language, in those low, guttural tones, that have been so often
mentioned, his notes rising with his theme, till they swelled so
loud as to be distinct.
“Twill come! I will come! to the land of the just I will
come! The Maquas I have slain !—I have slain the Maquas!
and the Great Spirit calls to his son. I will come! I will
come! to the land of the just I will come !”
“What says he, Leather-stocking ?” inquired the priest, with
tender interest ; “sings he the Redeemer’s praise ?”
“ No, no—'tis his own praise that he speaks now,” said Natty,
turning in a melancholy manner from the sight of his dying
friend ; “ and a good right he has to say it all, for I know every
word to be true.”
“May Heaven avert such self-righteousness from his heart!
Humility and penitence are the seals of Christianity; and
without feeling them deeply seated in the soul, all hope is delu-
THE PIONEERS. 463
eive, and leads to vain expectations. Praise himself! when his
whole soul and body should unite to praise his Maker! John!
you have enjoyed the blessings of a gospel ministry, and have
been called from out a multitude of sinners and pagans, and I
trust, for a wise and gracious purpose. Do you now feel what
it is to be justified by our Saviour’s death, and reject all weak
and idle dependence on good works, that spring from man’s
pride and vainglory ?”
The Indian did not regard his interrogator, but he raised his
head again, and said in a low, distinct voice—
“Who. can say that the Maquas know the back of Mohegan ?
What enemy that trusted in him did not see the morning ?
What Mingo that he chased ever sang the song of triumph ?
Did Mohegan ever lie? No; the truth lived in him, and none
else could come out of him. In his youth he was a warrior,
and his moccasins left the stain of blood. In his age, he was
wise; his words at the council fire did not blow away with the
winds.”
“Ah! he has abandoned that vain relic of paganism, his
songs,” cried the divine ;—“ what says he now? is he sensible
of his lost state ”
“Lord! man,” said Natty, “he knows his end is at hand as
well as you or I; but, so far from thinking it a loss, he believes
it to be a great gain. He is old and stiff, and you have made
the game so scarce and shy, that better shots than him find it
hard to get a livelihood. Now he thinks he shall travel where
it will always be good hunting; where no wicked or unjust
Indians can go; and where he shall meet all his tribe together
ag’in. There’s not much loss in that, to a man whose hands
are hardly fit for basket-making. Loss! if there be any loss,
twill be to me. I’m sure, after he’s gone, there will be but
little left for me but to follow.”
“ His example and end, which, I humbly trust, shall yet be
made glorious,” returned Mr. Grant, “should lead your mind to
dwell on the things of another life. But T feel it to be my duty
to smoothe the way for the parting spirit. This is the moment,
464 | THE PIONEERS.
John, when the reflection that you did not reject the mediation
of the Redeemer, will bring balm to your soul. Trust not to
any act of former days, but lay the burden of your sins at his
feet, and you have his own blessed assurance that he will not
desert you.”
“Though all you say be true, and you have 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 seen
together sin’ it.”
“ Hawk-eye !” said Mohegan, rousing with the last glim-
mering of life. “ Hawk-eye! listen to the words of your
brother.”
“Yes, John,” said the hunter, in English, strongly affected by
the appeal, and drawing to his side; “ we have been brothers ;
and more so than it means in the Indian tongue. What would
_ye have with me, Chingachgook ?”
| “Hawkeye! my fathers call me to the happy hunting-
grounds. The path is clear, and the eyes of Mohegan grow
young. Ilook—but I see no white-skins ; there are none to be
seen but just and brave Indians. Farewell, Hawk-eye—you
shall go with the Fire-eater and the Young Eagle, to the white
man’s heaven; but I go after my fathers. Let the bow, and
tomahawk, and pipe, and the wampum of Mohegan be laid in
his grave; for when he starts ’twill be in the night, like a war-
} rior 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 medi-
ation? and trust his salvation to the Rock of Ages?”
Although the faith of the hunter was by no means clear, yet
the fruits of early instruction had not entirely fallen in the wil-
THE PIONEERS. 465
derness. He believed in one God, and one heaven; and when
the strong feeling excited by the leave-taking of his old compa-
nion, which was exhibited by the powerful working of every
muscle in his weather-beaten face, suffered him to speak, he
replied—
“No—no—he trusts only to the Great Spirit of the savages,
and to his own good deeds. He thinks, like all his people, that
he is to be young ag’in, and to hunt, and be happy to the end
of etarnity. It’s pretty much the same with all colors, parson.
I could never bring myself to think, that I shall meet with
these hounds, or my piece, in another world; though the
thoughts of leaving them for ever sometimes brings hard feel-
ings over me, and makes me cling to life with a greater craving
than beseems three-score-and-ten.”
“The Lord in his mercy avert such a death from one who has
been sealed with the sign of the cross!” cried the minister, in
holy fervor. “John—”
He paused for the elements. During the period occupied by
the events which we have related, the dark clouds in the horizon
had continued to increase in numbers and magnitude ; and the
awful stillness that now pervaded the air, announced a crisis in
the state of the atmosphere. The flames, which yet continued
to rage along the sides of the mountain, no longer whirled in
uncertain currents of their own eddies, but blazed high and
steadily towards the heavens. 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 power, was about to
stay its progress. The piles of smoke which lay above the val-
ley began to rise, 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 speak-
ing, 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 obedience to a signal for his departure,
466 THE PIONEERS.
and stretched his wasted arm towards the west. His dark face
lighted with a look of joy; which, with all other expression,
gradually disappeared ; the muscles stiffening as they retreated
to a state of rest; a slight convulsion played, for a single
instant, about his lips; and his arm slowly dropped by his side;
leaving the frame of the dead warrior reposing against the rock,
with its glassy eyes open, and fixed on the distant hills, as if the
deserted shell were tracing the flight of the spirit to its new
abode.
All this Mr. Grant witnessed in silent awe ; but when the last
echoes of the thunder died away, he clasped his hands together,
with pious energy, and repeated, in the full, rich tones of
assured faith—
“OQ Lord! how unsearchable are thy judgments: and thy
ways past finding out! ‘I know that my Redeemer liveth, and
that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: and though
after my skin, worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall !
see God: whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall
behold, and not another.’ ”
As the divine closed this burst of devotion, he bowed his
head meekly to his bosom, and looked all the dependence and
humility that the inspired language expressed.
When Mr. Grant retired from the body, the hunter ap-
proached, and taking the rigid hand of his friend, looked him
wistfully in the face for some time without speaking, when he
gave vent to his feelings by saying, in the mournful voice of one
who felt deeply—
“Red skin or white, it’s all over now! He’s to be judged
by a righteous Judge, and by no laws that’s made to suit times,
and new ways. Well, there’s only one more death, and the
world will be left to me and the hounds. Ah’s me! a man
must wait the time of God’s pleasure, but I begin to weary of
life. There is scarcely a tree standing that I know, and it’s
hard to find a face that I was acquainted with in my younger
days.”
Large drops of rain began now to fall, and diffiise themselves
THE PIONEERS. 467
over the dry rock, while the approach of the thunder shower
was rapid and certain. The body of the Indian was hastily
removed into the cave beneath, followed by the whining
hounds, who missed, and moaned for the look of intelligence
that had always met their salutations to the chief.
Edwards made some hasty and confused excuse for not
taking Elizabeth into the same place, which was now completely
closed in front with logs and bark, saying something that she
hardly understood about its darkness, and the unpleasantness
of being with the dead body. Miss Temple, however, found a
sufficient shelter against the torrent of rain that fell, under the
projection of a rock which overhung them. But long before
the shower was over, the sounds of voices were heard below
them crying aloud for Elizabeth, and men soon appeared, beat-
ing the dying embers of the bushes, as they worked their way
cautiously among the unextinguished brands.
At the first short cessation in the rain, Oliver conducted
Elizabeth to the road, where he left her. Before parting, how-
ever, he found time to say, in a fervent manner, that his com-
panion 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; that alone removes the weight of
a world from my spirit !”
He waited for no answer, but sprang into the woods. Eliza-
beth, notwithstanding she heard the cries of her father as he
called upon her name, paused until he was concealed among
the smoking trees, when she turned, and in a moment rushed
into the arms of her half-distracted parent.
A carriage had been provided, into which Miss Temple
hastily entered ; when the cry was passed along the hill, that
468 THE PIONEERS.
the lost one was found, and the people returned to the village,
wet and dirty, but elated with the thought that the daughter
of their landlord had escaped from so horrid and untimely an
end.*
* The probability of a fire in the woods, similar to that here described, has been
questioned. The writer can only say that he once witnessed a fire in another part
of New York that compelled a man to desert his wagon and horses in the highway,
and in which the latter were destroyed. In order to estimate the probability of
such an event, it is necessary to remember the effects of a long drought in that
climate, and the abundance of dead wood which is found in a forest like that
described. The fires in the American forests frequently rage to such an extent as
to produce a sensible effect on the atmosphere at the distance of fifty mules,
Houses, barns, and fences are quite commonly swept away in their course.
THE PIONEERS. 469
CHAPTER XXXIX.
Selictar ! unsheathe then our chief’s scimitar ;
Tambourgi ! thy ’larum gives promise of war ;
Ye mountains! that see us descend to the shore,
Shall view us as victors, or view us no more. BYRON.
Tue heavy showers that prevailed during the remainder of
the day completely stopped the progress of the flames; though
glimmering fires were observed during the night, on different
parts of the hill, wherever there was a collection of fuel to feed
the element. The next day the woods,*for many miles, were
black and smoking, and were stripped of every vestige of brush
and dead wood; but the pines and hemlocks still reared their
heads proudly among the hills, and even the smaller trees of
the forest retained a feeble appearance of life and vegetation.
The many tongues of rumor were busy in exaggerating the
miraculous escape of Elizabeth; and a report was generally
credited, that Mohegan ‘had actually perished in the flames.
This belief became confirmed, and was indeed rendered probable,
when the direful intelligence reached the village, that Jotham
Riddell, the miner, was found in his hole, nearly dead with suf-
focation, and burnt to such a degree that no hopes were enter-
tained of his life.
The public attention became much alive to the events of the
last few days; and just at this crisis, the convicted counterfeiters
took the hint from Natty, and, on the night succeeding the fire,
found means to cut through their log prison also, and to escape
unpunished. When this news began to circulate through the
village, blended with the fate of Jotham, and the exaggerated
and tortured reports of the events on the hill, the popular
opinion was freely expressed, as to the propriety of seizing such
of the fugitives as remained within reach. Men talked of the
470 THE PIONEERS.
cave, as a secret receptacle of guilt; and as the rumor of ores
and metals found its way into the confused medley of con-
jectures, counterfeiting, and everything else that was wicked and
dangerous to the peace of society, suggested themselves to the
busy fancies of the populace.
While the public mind was in this feverish state, it was
hinted that the wood had been set on fire by Edwards and the
Leather-stocking, and that, consequently, they alone were
responsible for the damages. This opinion soon gained ground,
being most circulated by those who, by their own heedlessness,
had caused the evil; and there was one irresistible burst of the
common sentiment, that an attempt should be made to punish
the offenders. Richard was by no means deaf to this appeal,
and by noon he set about in earnest, to see the laws executed.
Several stout young men were selected, and taken apart with
an appearance of secresy, where they received some important
charge from the Sheriff, immediately under the eyes, but far
removed from the ears, of all in the village. Possessed of a know-
ledge of their duty, these youths hurried into the hills, with
a bustling manner, as if the fate of.the world depended on their
diligence, and, at the same time, with an air of mystery, as great _
as if they were engaged on secret matters of the state.
At twelve precisely, a drum beat the “long roll” before the
“Bold Dragoon,” and Richard appeared, accompanied by Cap-
tain Hollister, who was clad in his vestments as commander of
the “ Templeton Light-Infantry,” when the former demanded of
the latter the aid of the posse comitatus, in enforcing the laws
of the count We have not room to record the speeches of
the two emen on this occasion, but they are preserved
in the columns of the little blue newspaper, which is yet to
be found on the file, and are said to be highly creditable to the
legal formula of one of the parties, and to the military precision
of the other. Everything had been previously arranged, and
as the red-coated drummer continued to roll out his clatter-
ing notes, some five-and-twenty privates appeared in the 1anks,
and arranged themselves in order of battle.
THE PIONEERS. 474 -
As this corps was composed of volunteers, and was com-
manded by a man who had passed the first five-and-thirty years
of his life in camps and garrisons, it was the nonpareil of mili-
tary science in that country, and was confidently pronounced by
the judicious part of the Templeton community, to be equal in
skill and appearance to any troops in the known world; in
physical endowments they were, certainly, much superior! To
this assertion there were but three dissenting voices, and
one dissenting opinion. The opinion belonged to Marmaduke,
who, however, saw no necessity for its promulgation. Of
the voices, one, and that a pretty loud one, came from the
spouse of the commander himself, who frequently reproached
her husband for condescending to lead such an irregular band of
warriors, after he had filled the honorable station of sergeant-
major to a dashing corps of Virginian cavalry through much of
the recent war.
Another of these sceptical sentiments was invariably expressed
by Mr. Pump, whenever the company paraded, generally in
some such terms as these, which were uttered with that sort of
meekness that a native of the island of our forefathers is apt to
assume, when he condescends to praise the customs or cha-
racter of her truant progeny—
“Tt’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 cap-
tivate them all in half a glass.” As there was no one to deny
this assertion, the marines of the Boadicea were held in a corres-
ponding degree of estimation.
The third unbeliever was Monsieur Le Gok 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! However, 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 comments; as Benjamin was absent, and
472 THE PIONEERS.
Monsieur Le Quoi too happy to find fault with anything,
the corps escaped criticism and comparison altogether on
this momentous day, when they certainly had greater need
of self-confidence than on any other previous occasion. Mar-
maduke was said to be again closeted with Mr. Van der
School, and no interruption was offered to the movements
of the troops. At two o’clock precisely the corps shouldered
arms, beginning on the right wing, next to the veteran, and
earrying the motion through to the left with great regu-
larity. 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 manceuvre
was executed with their usual accuracy; but as the music
struck up the inspiring air of Yankee-doodle, and Richard,
accompanied by Mr. Doolittle, preceded the troops boldly
down the street, Captain Hollister led on, with his head
elevated to forty-five degrees, with a little, low cocked hat
perched on his crown, carrying a tremendous dragoon sabre
at a poise, and trailing at his heels a huge steel scabbard,
that had war in its very clattering. There was a good deal
of difficulty in getting all the platoons (there were six) to
look the same way; but, by the time they reached the defile ©
of the bridge, the troops were in sufficiently compact order
In this manner they marched up the hill to the summit of
the mountain, no other alteration taking place in the disposi-
tion of the forces, excepting that a mutual complaint was
made by the Sheriff and the magistrate, of a failure in wind,
which gradually brought these gentlemen to the rear. It
will be unnecessary to detail the minute movements that 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 intelli-
gence certainly made a material change, not only in the
plans of the leaders, but in the countenances of the soldiery
THE PIONEERS. 473
also. The men looked at one another with serious faces,
and Eiram and Richard began to consult together, apart.
At this conjuncture, they were joined by- Billy Kirby, who
came along the highway, with his axe under his arm, as
much in advance of his team as Captain Hollister had been
cf his troops in the ascent. The wood-chopper was amazed
at the military array, but the Sheriff eagerly availed himself
of this powerful reinforcement, and commanded his assistance
in putting the laws in force. Billy held Mr. Jones in too
much deference to object; and it was finally arranged that
he should be the bearer of a summons to the garrison to
surrender, before they proceeded to extremities. The troops
now divided, one party being led by the captain, over the
Vision, and were brought in on the left of the cave, while
the remainder advanced upon its right, under the orders of
the lieutenant. Mr. Jones and Dr. Todd—for the surgeon
was in attendance also—appeared on the platform of rock,
immediately over the heads of the garrison, though out of
their sight. Hiram thought this approaching too near, and
he therefore accompanied Kirby along the side of the hill,
to within a safe distance of: the fortifications, where he took
shelter behind a tree. Most of the men discovered great
accuracy of eye in bringing some object in range between
them and their enemy, and the only two of the besiegers,
who were left in plain sight of the besieged, were Captain
Hollister on one side, and the wood-chopper on the other.
The veteran stood up boldly to the front, supporting his heavy
sword, in one undeviating position, with his eye fixed firmly on
his enemy, while the huge form of Billy was placed in that
kind of quiet repose, with either hand thrust into his bosom,
bearing his axe under his right arm, which permitted him, like
his own oxen, to rest standing. So far, not a word had been
exchanged between the belligerents. The besieged had drawn
together a pile of black logs and branches of trees, which
they had formed into a chevaux-de-frise, making a little circular
abbatis in front of the entrance to the cave. As the groun]J
4'74 THE PIONEERS.
was steep and slippery in every direction around the place, and
Benjamin appeared behind the works on one side, and Natty on
the other, the arrangement was by no means contemptible,
especially as the front was sufficiently guarded by the difficulty
of the approach. By this time, Kirby had received his orders,
and he advanced coolly along the mountain, picking his way
with the same indifference as if he were pursuing his ordinary
business. When he was within a hundred feet of the works,
the long and much dreaded rifle of the Leather-stocking
was seen issuing from the parapet, and his voice cried aloud—
“Keep off! Billy Kirby, keep off! I wish ye no harm; but
if a man of ye all comes a step nigher, there’ll be blood spilt
atwixt us. God forgive the one that draws it first, but so it
musi be.”
“Come, old chap,” said Billy, good-naturedly, “don’t be
erabb’d, but hear what a man has got to say. I’ve no consarn
in the business, only to see right ’twixt man and man; and I
don’t kear the valie of a beetle ring which gets the better; but
there’s Squire Doolittle, yonder behind the beech sapling, he
has invited me to come in and ask you to give up to the law
—that’s all.” :
“T see the varmint! I see his clothes!” cried the indignant
Natty ; “and if he’ll only show so much flesh as will bury a |
rifle bullet, thirty to the pound, I'll make him feel me. Go
away, Billy, I bid ye: you know my aim, and I bear you no
malice.”
“You over-calculate your aim, Natty,” said the other, as he
stepped behind a pine that stood near him; “if you think to
shoot a man through a tree with a three foot butt. I can lay
this tree right across you in ten minutes, by any man’s watch,
and in less time, too; so be civil—I want no more than what’s
right.”
There was a simple seriousness in the countenance of Natty,
that showed he was much in earnest; but it was also evident
that he was reluctant to shed human blood. He answered the
vaunt of the wood-chopper, by saying—
THE PIONEERS. 475
“T know you drop a tree where you will, Billy Kirby; but
if you show a hand, or an arm, in doing it, there’ll be bones to
be set, and blood to staunch. If it’s only to get into the cave
that ye want, wait till a two hours’ sun, and you may enter it
in weleome ; but come in now youshall 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 stepped out fearlessly from his cover, and
cried—
“That’s fair; and what’s fair is right. He wants you tc
stop till it’s two hours to sundown; and I see reason in the
thing. A man can give up when he’s wrong, if you don’t
crowd him too hard; but you crowd a man, and he gets to be
like a stubborn ox—the more you beat, the worse he kicks.”
The sturdy notions of independence maintained by Billy,
neither suited the emergency nor the impatience of Mr. Jones,
who was burning with a desire to examine the hidden mysteries
of the cave. He therefore interrupted this amicable dialogue
with his own voice.
“TY command you, Nathaniel Bumppo, by my authority, to
surrender your person to the law,” he cried. “ And I command
you, gentlemen, to. aid me in performing my duty.. Benjamin
Penguillan, I arrest you, and order you to follow me to the jail
of the county, by virtue of this warrant.”
“Td follow ye, Squire Dickens,” said Benjamin, 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, to the end of the world, if-so-be that there was such
a place, where there isn’t seeing that it’s round. Now, mayhap,
Master Hollister, having lived all your life on shore, you isn’t
acquainted that the world, d’ye see e
“Surrender !” interrupted the veteran, in a voice that start-
led his hearers, and which actually caused his own forces to
recoil several paces; “surrender, Benjamin Pengullum, or
expect no quarter.”
476 THE PIONEERS.
“Damn your quarter!” said Benjamin, rising from the log on
which he was seated, and taking a squint along the barrel of
the swivel, which had been brought on the hill during the
night, and now formed the means of defence on his side of the
works. “Look you, Master, or Captain, thof I questions if ye
know the name of a rope, except the one that’s to hang ye,
there’s no need of singing out, as if ye was hailing a deaf man
on a top-gallant yard. Mayhap you think you’ve got my true
name in your sheep-skin ; but what Br'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 day-
light; and he was a gentleman; and that’s more than my
worst enemy will say of any of the family of Benjamin
Stubbs.” . ’
“Send the warrant round to me, and [ll put in an alias,”
cried Hiram, from behind his cover.
“Put in a jackass, and you'll put in yourself, Mister Doo-but-
little,” shouted Benjamin, who kept squinting along his little
iron tube, with great steadiness.
“TI give you but one moment to yield,” cried Richard.
“Benjamin! Benjamin! this is not the gratitude I expected
from you.”
“T tell you, Richard Jones,” said Natty, who dreaded the
Sheriff’s influence over his comrade; “ though the canister the
gal brought be lost, there’s powder enough in the cave to lift
the rock you stand on. I'll take off my roof if you don’t hold
your peace.”
_ “T think it beneath the dignity of my office to parley further
with the prisoners,” the Sheriff observed to his companion,
while they both retired with a precipitancy that Captain Hollister
mistook for the signal to advance.
“ Charge baggonet!” shouted the veteran; “march
Although this signal was certainly expected, it took the
assailed a little by surprise, and the veteran approached the
works, crying, “ Courage, my brave lads! give them no quarter
1?
THE PIONEERS. 477
unless they surrender ;” and struck ‘a furious blow upwards
with his sabre, that would have divided the stewaid into moieties,
by subjecting him to the process of decapitation, but for the for-
tunate interference of the muzzle of the swivel. As it was, the
gun was dismounted at the critical moment that Benjamin was
applying his pipe to the priming, and, in consequence, some
five or six dozen of rifle bullets were projected into the air, in
nearly a perpendicular line. Philosophy teaches us that the
atmosphere will not retain lead; and two pounds of the metal,
moulded into bullets of thirty to the pound, after describing an
ellipsis in their journey, returned to the earth rattling among
the branches of the trees directly over the heads of the troops
stationed in the rear of their captain. Much of the success of
an attack, made by irregular soldiers, depends on the direction
in which they are first got in motion. In the present instance,
it was retrograde, and in less than a minute after the bellowing
report of the swivel among the rocks and caverns, the whole
weight of the attack from the left rested on the prowess of the
single arm of the veteran. Benjamin received a severe contu-
sion 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 fortifica-
tion, and waving his sabre over his head, shouted—
“ Victory! come on, my brave boys, the work’s our own !”
All this was perfectly military, and was such an example as
a gallant officer was in some measure bound to exhibit to his
men; but the outcry was the unlucky cause of turning the tide
of success. Natty, who had been keeping a vigilant eye on the
wood-chopper, and the enemy immediately before him, wheeled
at this alarm, and was appalled at beholding his comrade on
the ground, and the veteran standing on his own bulwark, giv-
ing forth the ery of victory! Tho muzzle of the long rifle was
478 : THE PIONEERS.
turned instantly towards the captain. There was a moment
when the life of the old soldier was in great jeopardy ; but the
object to shoot at was both too large and too near for the
Leather-stocking, who, instead of pulling his trigger, applied the
gun to the rear of his enemy, and by a powerful shove sent
him outside of the works with much greater rapidity than he
had entered them. The spot on which Captain Hollister
alighted was direéctly in front, where, as his feet touched the
ground, so steep and slippery was the side of the mountain, it
seemed to recede from under them. His motion was swift, and
so irregular as utterly to confuse the faculties of the old soldier.
During its continuance, he supposed himself to be mounted, and
charging through the ranks of his enemy. At every tree he
made a blow, of course, as at a foot soldier; and just as he was
making the cut “St. George” at a half-burnt sapling, he landed
in the highway, and, to his utter amazement, at the feet of his
own spouse. When Mrs. Hollister, who was toiling up the hill,
followed by at least twenty curious boys, leaning with one hand
on the staff with which she ordinarily walked, and bearing in the
other an empty bag, witnessed this exploit of her husband, indig-
nation 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! 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
worreldly things; but what falls in the battle, there’s scripter
for believing, is the just property of the victor.”
“ Retreating !” exclaimed the amazed veteran; “ where’s my.
horse? he has been shot under me—I ?
THE PLONEERS. 479
“Is the man mad 2” interrupted his wife—‘ divil the horse
lo ye own, sargeant, and ye’re nothing but a shabby captain
of malaishy. Oh! If the ra’al captain was here, ’tis the
other way ye’d be riding, dear, or you would not follow your
laider !”
While this worthy couple were thus discussing events, the
battle began to rage more violently than ever above them.
When 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, fer, in a voice that was heard by the
retreating left wing, he shouted——
“ Hurra! well done, captain! keep it up! how he handles
his bush-hook! he makes nothing of a sapling!” and such
other encouraging exclamations to the flying veteran, until,
overcome by mirth, the good-natured fellow seated himself on
the ground, kicking the earth with delight, and giving vent to
peal after peal of laughter.
_ Natty stood all this time in a menacing attitude, with his
rifle pointed over the breast-work, watching with a quick and
cautious eye the least movement of the assailants. The outery
unfortunately tempted the ungovernable curiosity of Hiram to
take a peep from behind his cover at the state of the battle. —
Though this evolution was performed with great caution, in
protecting his front, he left, like many a better commander, his
rear exposed to the attacks of his enemy. Mr. Doolittle
belonged physically to a class of his countrymen, to whom
nature has denied, in their formation, the use of curved lines.
Everything about him was either straight or angular. But his _
tailor was a woman who worked, like a regimental contractor,
by a set of rules that gave the same configuration to the whole
human species. Consequently when Mr. Doolittle leaned for-
480 ‘ THE PIONEERS.
ward in the manner described, a loose drapery appeared behind
the tree, at which the rifle of Natty was pointed with the quick-
ness of lightning. A less experienced man would have aimed
at the flowing robe, which hung like a festoon half way to the
earth ; but the Leather-stocking knew both the man and his
female tailor better ; and when the smart report of the rifle was
heard, Kirby, who watched the whole manceuvre in breathless
expectation, saw the bark fly from the beach, 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 summons.
He made two or three steps, with great precision, to the
front, and placing one hand on the afflicted part, stretched forth
the other, with a menacing air towards Natty, and cried aloud—
“ Gawl darn ye! this shan’t be settled so easy; Pll follow it
up from the ‘common pleas’ to the ‘court of errors.’ ”
Such a shocking imprecation, from the mouth of so orderly a
man as Squire Doolittle, with the fearless manner in which he
exposed himself, together with, perhaps, the knowledge that
Natty’s rifle was unloaded, encouraged the troops in the rear,
who gave a loud shout, and fired a volley into the tree-tops,
after the contents of the swivel. Animated by their own noise,
the men now rushed on in earnest; and Billy Kirby, who
thought the joke, good as it was, had gone far enough, was in
the act of scaling the works, when Judge Temple appeared on
the opposite side, exclaiming—
“Silence and peace! why do I see murder and 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 Sheriff, from a distant
rock, “ who 4 .
“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!”
TIE PIONEERS. 4S]
Amazement produced the desired effect. Natty, who had
reloaded his piece, quietly seated himself on the logs, and rested
his head on his hand, while the “ Light Infantry” ceased their
military movements, and waited the issue in suspense.
In less than a minute Edwards came rushing down the hill,
followed by Major Hartmann with a velocity that was surpris-
ing for his years. They reached the terrace in an instant, from
which the youth led the way, by the hollow in the rock, to the
mouth of the cave, into which they both entered; leaving all
without silent, and gazing after them with astonishment.
21
4&2 THE PIONEERS,
CHAPTER XL.
Iam dumb.
Were you the Doctor, and I knew you not?
SHAKSPEARE.
Dtrine the five or six minutes that elapsed before the youth
and Major re-appeared, Judge Temple and the Sheriff, together
with most of the volunteers, ascended to the terrace, where the
latter began to express their conjectures of the result, and to
recount their individual services in the conflict. But the sight
of the peace-makers ascending the ravine shut every mouth.
On a rude chair, covered with undressed deer-skins, they
supported a human being, whom they seated carefully and
respectfully in the midst of the assembly. His head was_
covered by long smooth locks of the color of snow. His dress,
which was studiously neat and clean, was composed of such
fabrics as none but the wealthiest classes wear, but was thread-
bare and patched; and on his feet were placed a pair of
moccasins, ornamented in the best manner of Indian ingenuity.
The outlines of his face were grave and dignified, though his
vacant eye, which opened and turned slowly to the faces of —
those around him in unmeaning looks, too surely announced
that the period had arrived, when age brings the mental imbe-
cility of childhood.
Natty had followed the supporters of this unexpected object
to the top of the cave, and took his station at a little distance
behind him, leaning on his rifle, in the midst of his pur-
suers, with a fearlessness that showed that heavier interests than
those which affected himself were to be decided. Major Hart-
mann placed himself beside the aged man, uncovered, with his
whole soul beaming through those eyes which so commonly
danced with frolic and humor. Edwards rested with one hand
THE PIONEERS. 4832
familiarly, but affectionately, on the chair, though his heart was
swelling with emotions that denied him utterance.
All eyes were gazing intently, but each tongue continued
mute. At length the decrepit stranger, turning his vacant
locks from face to face, made a feeble attempt to rise, while
a faint smile crossed his wasted face, like an habitual effort
at courtesy, as he said, in a hollow, tremulous voice—
“Be pleased to be seated, gentlemen. The council will open
immediately. Each one who loves a good and virtuous king,
will wish to see these colonies continue loyal. Be seated—
I pray you, be seated, gentlemen. The troops shall halt for the
night.”
“ This is the wandering of insanity !” said Marmaduke ; “who
will explain this scene 2”
“No, sir,” said Edwards, firmly, “’tis only the decay of
nature ; who is answerable for its pitiful condition, remains to be
shown.”
“Will the gentlemen dine with us, my son?” said the
old stranger, turning to a voice that he both knew and
loved. “Order a repast suitable for his’ Majesty’s officers.
You know we have the best of game always at command.”
“ Who is this man?” asked Marmaduke, in a hurried voice,
im which the dawnings of conjecture 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 everything that can
make life desirable, was once the companion and counsellor of
those who ruled your country. This man, whom you see
helpless and feeble, was once a warrior, so brave and fear-
less, 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—”
~
484 THE PIONEERS.
“This then,” cried Marmaduke, with a powerful emotion,
“this, then, is the lost Major Effingham !”
“Lost indeed,” said the youth, fixing a piercing eye on
the other.
“ And you! and you!” continued the Judge, articulating with
difficulty.
“T am his grandson.”
A minute passed in profound silence. All eyes were fixed on
the speakers, aud even the old German appeared to wait
the issue in deep anxiety. But the moment of agitation soon
passed. Marmaduke raised his head from his bosom, where it
had sunk, not in shame, but in devout mental thanksgiv- |
ings, and, as large tears fell over his fine manly face, he grasped
the hand of the youth warmly, and said—
“Oliver, I forgive all thy harshness—all thy suspicions.
I now see it all. I forgive thee everything, but suffering
this aged man to dwell in such a place, when not only my
habitation, but my fortune, were at his and thy command.”
“ He’s true as ter steel!” shouted Major Hartmann; “ titn’t I
tell you, lat, dat Marmatuke Temple vast a frient dat woult
never fail in ter dime as of neet 2”
“Tt 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 Mohawk in
quest of one of his former comrades, in whose justice I had
dependence. He is your friend, Judge Temple, but if what
he says be true, both my father and myself may have judged
you harshly.”
“You name your father!” said Marmaduke, tenderly—“ was
he, indeed, lost in the packet ?”
“He was. He had left me, after several years of fruit-
less application and comparative poverty, in Nova Scotia,
to obtain the compensation for his losses which the British
commissioners had at length awarded. After spending a year
THE PIONEERS. 485
in England, he was returning to Halifax, on his way to a
government to which he had been appointed, in the West
Indies, intending to go the place where my grandfather had
sojourned during and since the war, and take him with us.”
“But thou!” said Marmaduke, with powerful interest; “I
had thought that thou hadst perished with him.”
A flush passed over the cheeks of the young man, who gazed
about him at the wondering faces of the volunteers, and conti:
nued silent. Marmaduke turned to the veteran captain, who
just then rejoined his command, and said—
“March thy soldiers back again, and dismiss them ; the zeal
of the Sheriff has much mistaken his duty. Dr. Todd, I will
thank you to attend to the injury which Hiram Doolittle
has received in this untoward affair. Richard, you will oblige
me by sending up the carriage to the top of the hill. Benjamin
return to your duty in my family.”
Unwelcome as these orders were to most of the auditors, the
suspicion that they had somewhat exceeded the wholesome
restraints of the law, and the habitual respect with which
all the commands of the Judge were received, induced a
prompt compliance. |
When they were gone, and the rock was left to the parties
most interested in an explanation, Marmaduke, pointing to the
aged Major Effingham, said to his grandson—
“Had we not better remove thy parent from this open
place, until my carriage can arrive ?”
“Pardon me, sir, the air does him good, and he has taken it
it whenever there was no dread of a discovery. I know not
how to act, Judge Temple; ought I, can I, suffer Major Effing-
ham to become an inmate of your family ?”
“Thou shall be thyself the judge,” said Marmaduke. “ Thy
father was my early friend. He intrusted his fortune to
my care. When we separated, he had such confidence in me,
that he wished no security, no evidence of the trust, even had
there being time or convenience for exacting it—This thou
hast heard %”
486 THE PIONEERS.
“Most truly, sir,” said Edwards, or rather Effingham, as we
must now call him.
“We differed in politics. If the cause of this country
was successful, the trust was sacred with me, for none knew of
thy father’s interest. If the crown still held its sway, it would
be easy to restore the property of so loyal a subject as Colonel
Effingham.—lIs 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 her Tchooge.”
“ We all know the issue of the struggle,” continued Marma-
duke, disregarding both. “Thy grandfather was left im Con-
necticut, regularly supplied by thy father with the means
of such a subsistence as suited his wants. This I well knew,
though I never had intercourse with him, even in our happiest
days. Thy father retired with the troops to prosecute his claims
on England. At all events, his losses must be great, for
his real estates were sold,and I became the lawful purchaser. It
was not unnatural to wish that he might have no bar to its just
recovery.”
“There was none, but the difficulty of providing for so many _
claimants.”
“ But there would have been one, and an insuperable one, had
I announced to the world that J held these estates, multiplied,
by the times and my industry, a hundred fold in value, only as
his trustee. Thou knowest that I supplied him with considera-
ble sums, immediately after the war.”
“You did, until 2
“ My letters were returned unopened. Thy father had much
of thy own spirit, Oliver; he was sometimes hasty and rash.”
The Judge continued, in a self-condemning manner—* Perhaps
my fault lies the other way ; I may possibly look too far ahead,
and calculate too deeply. It certainly was a severe trial
to alow the man whom I most loved, to think ill of me for
seven years, in order that he might honestly apply for his just
THE PIONEERS. 487
remunerations. But had he opened my last letters, thou —
wouldst have learned the whole truth. Those I sent him
to England, by what my agent writes me, he did read. He
died, Oliver, knowing all. He died, my friend, and I thought
thou hadst died with him.”
“Our poverty would not permit us to pay for two passages,”
said the youth, with the extraordinary emotion with which he
ever alluded to the degraded state of his family ; “I was left in
the Province to wait for his return, and when the sad news of
his loss reached me, I was nearly penniless.”
“ And what didst thou, boy ?” asked Marmaduke in a falter-
ing voice.
“T took my passage here in’search of my grandfather ; for T
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 had deserted him
in his poverty, owned to my urgent entreaties, that he believed
he had been carried away by an old man who had formerly
~ been his servant. I knew at once it was Natty, for my father
often”
“Was Natty a servant of thy grandfather ?” exclaimed the
Judge. , .
“ Of that, too, were you ignorant ?” said the youth, in evident
surprise.
“ How should I know it? I never met the Major, nor was
the name of Bumppo ever mentioned to me. I knew him only
as a man of the woods, and one who lived by hunting. Such
men are too common to excite surprise.”
“ He was reared in the family of my grandfather; served him
for many years during their campaigns at the west, where he
became attached to the woods; and he was left here as a
kind of locum tenens on the lands that old Mohegan (whose
life my grandfather once saved) induced the Delawares to grant
to him, when they admitted him as an honorary member of
their tribe.”
“ This, then, is thy Indian blood ?”
488 THE PIONEERS.
“T have no other,” said Edwards, smiling ;—‘ Major Effing-
ham was adopted as the son of Mohegan, who at that time was
the greatest man in his nation; and my father, who visited
those people when a boy, received the name of the Eagle from
them, on account of the shape of his face, as I understand.
They have extended his title to me. I have no other Indian
blood or breeding; though I have seen the hour, Judge
Temple, when I could wish that such had been my lineage and
education.”
“ Proceed with thy tale,” said Marmaduke.
“T have but little more to say, sir. I followed to the lake
where I had so often been told that Natty dwelt, and found
him maintaining his old master in secret; for even he could not
bear to exhibit to the world, in his poverty and dotage, a man
whom a whole people once looked up to with respect.”
“ And what did you 2”
“What did I! Ispent my last money in purchasing a rifle,
clad myself in a coarse garb, and learned to be a hunter by the
side of Leather-stocking. You know the rest, Judge Temple.”
“Ant vere vast olt Fritz Hartmann?” said the German
_repioachfully ; “didst never hear a name as of olt Fritz Hart-
mann from ter mout of ter fader, lat ?”
“T may have been mistaken, gentlemen,” returned the youth; —
“but I had ‘pride, and could not submit to such an exposure as
this day even has reluctantly brought to light. I had plans
that might have been visionary; but, should my parent survive
lill 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 Mohegan.”
The air being pure, and the day fine, the party continued
conversing on the rock, until the wheels of Judge Temple’s
earriage were heard clattering up the side of the mountain,
during which time the conversation was maintained with deep
interest, each moment clearing up some doubtful action, and
lessening the antipathy of the youth to Marmaduke. He no
THE PIONEERS. 489
é
longer objected to the removal of his grandfather, who displayed
a childish pleasure when he found himself seated once more in
a carriage. When placed in the ample hall of the Mansion-
house, the eyes of the aged veteran turned slowly to the objects
in the apartment, and a look like the dawn of intellect would,
for moments, flit across his features, when he invariably offered
some useless courtesies to those near him, wandering painfully,
in his subjects. The exercise and the change soon produced an
exhaustion that caused them to remove him to his bed, where
he lay for hours, evidently sensible of the change in his comforts,
and exhibiting that mortifying picture of human nature,
which too plainly shows that the propensities of the animal
continue even after the nobler part of the creature appears to
have vanished.
Until his parent was placed comfortably in bed, with Natty
seated at his side, Effingham did not quit him. He then obeyed
a summons to the library of the Judge, where he found the latter,
with Major Hartmann, waiting for him.
“Read this paper, Oliver,” said Marmaduke to him, as he
entered, “and thou wilt find that, so far from intending thy
family wrong during life, it has been my care to see that justice
should be done at even a later day.”
The youth took the paper, which his first glance told him
was the will of the Judge. Hurried and agitated as he was, he
discovered that the date corresponded with the time of the
unusual depression of Marmaduke. As he proceeded his eyes
began to moisten, and the hand which held the instrument
shook violently.
The will commenced with the usual forms, spun out by the
ingenuity of Mr. Van der School; but after this subject was
fairly exhausted, the pen of Marmaduke became plainly visible
In clear, distinct, manly, and even eloquent language, he
recounted his obligations to Colonel Effingham, the nature of
their connexion, and the circumstances in which they separated.
He then proceeded to relate the motives of his long silence,
mentioning, however, large sums that he had forwarded to his
490 THE PIONEERS.
friend, which had been returned with the letters unopened.
After this, he spoke of his search for the grandfather, who had
unaccountably disappeared, and his fears that the direct heir Ws
the trust was buried in the ocean with his father.
After, in short, recounting in a clear narrative, the events
which our readers must now be able to connect, he proceeded
to make a fair and exact statement of the sums left in his care
by Colonel Effingham. A devise of his whole estate to certain
responsible trustees followed ; to hold the same for the benefit,
in equal moieties, of his daughter, on one part, and of Oliver
Effingham, formerly a major in the army of Great Britain, and
of his son, 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 devised,
then a certain sum, calculating the principal and interest of his
debt to Colonel Effingham, was to be paid to the heirs at law
of the Effingham family, and the bulk of his estate was to be
conveyed in fee to his daughter, or her heirs.
The tears fell from the eyes of the young man, as he read
this undeniable testimony of the good faith of Marmaduke,
and his bewildered gaze was still fastened on the paper,
when a voice, that thrilled on every nerve, spoke near him,
saying—
“Do you yet doubt us, Oliver 2?”
“J have never doubted you /” cried the youth, recovering
his recollection and his voice, as he sprang to seize the hand of
Elizabeth; “no, not one moment has my faith in you
wavered.”
“ And my father
“God bless him !”
“T thank thee, my son,” said the Judge, exchanging a warm _ :
pressure of the hand with the youth; “but we have both
erred ; thou hast been too hasty, and I have been too slow
One half of my estates shall be thine as soon as they can be
PR eee ee ee
THE PIONEERS. AOL
conveyed to thee; and if what my suspicions tell me be true, I
suppose the other must follow speedily.” He took the hand
which he held, and united it with that of his daughter, and
motioned towards the door to the Major.
“T telt you vat, gal?” said the old German, good-humor-
edly; “if I vast as I vast ven I servit mit his grandfader on
ter lakes, ter lazy tog shouln’t vin ter prize as for nottin.”
“Come, come, old Fritz,” said the Judge ; “ you are seventy,
not seventeen; Richard waits for you with a bowl of ege-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 are mistaken.
The téte-a-téte continued for a very unreasonable time ; how
long we shall not say; but it was ended by six o’clock in the
evening, for at that hour Monsieur Le Quoi made his appear-
ance agreeably to the appointment of the preceding day, and
claimed the ear of Miss Temple. He was admitted ; when he
made an offer of his hand, with much suavity, together with
his “amis beeg and leet’, his pére, his mére, and his sucre-
boosh.” Elizabeth might, possibly, have previously entered into
some embarrassing and binding engagements with Oliver, for
she declined the tender of all, in terms as polite, though per-
haps a little more decided, than those in which they were made.
The Frenchman soon joined the German and the Sheriff in
the hall, who compelled him to take a seat with them at the
table, where, by the aid of punch, wine, and egg-nog, they soon
extracted from the complaisant Monsieur Le Quoi the nature of
his visit. It was evident that he had made the offer, as a duty
which a well-bred man owed to a lady in such a retired place,
before he left the country, and that his feelings were but very
- 492 THE PIONEERS.
little, if at all, interested in the matter. After a few potations,
the waggish pair persuaded the exhilarated Frenchman that
there was an inexcusable partiality in offering to one lady, and
not extending a similar courtesy to another. Consequently,
about nine, Monsieur Le Quoi sallied forth to the rectory, on a
similar mission to Miss Grant, which proved as successful as his
first effort in love.
When he returned to the Mansion-house, at ten, Richard and
the Major were still seated at the table. They attempted to
persuade the Gaul, as the Sheriff called him, that he should
next try Remarkable Pettibone. But, though stimulated by
mental excitement and wine, two hours of abstruse logic were
thrown away on this subject; for he declined their advice, with
a pertinacity truly astonishing in so polite a man.
When Benjamin lighted Monsieur Le Quoi from the door, he
said, at parting—
“Ifso-be, Mounsheer, you’d run alongside Mistress Pretty-
bones, as the Squire Dickens was bidding ye, ’tis my notion
you'd have been grappled ; in which ease, d’ye see, you mought
have been troubled in swinging clear again in a handsome man-
ner; for thof Miss Lizzy and the parson’s young’un be tidy
little vessels, that shoot by a body on a wind, Mistress Remark-
able is sum’mat of a galliot fashion; when you once takes ’em
in tow, they doesn’t like to be cast off again.”
THE PIONEERB. | 493
CHAPTER XLI.
Yes, sweep ye on !—We will not leavo,
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.
Lorp oF THE IsLEs.
Tue events of our tale carry us through the summer; and
after making nearly the circle of the year, we must conclude our
labors in the delightful month of October. Many important
incidents had, however, occurred in the intervening period; a
few of which it may be necessary to recount.
The two principal were the marriage of Oliver and Elizabeth,
and the death of Major Effingham. They both took place ;
early in September ; and the former preceded the latter only a
few days. ‘The old man passed away like the last glimmering
of a taper; and though his death cast a melancholy over the
family, grief could not follow such an end.
One of the chief concerns of Marmaduke was to reconcile the
even conduct of a magistrate with the course that his feelings
dictated to the criminals. The day succeeding the discovery at
the cave, however, Natty and Benjamin re-entered the jail
peaceably, where they continued, well fed and comfortable, until
the return of an express to Albany, who brought the Governor’s
pardon to the Leather-stocking. In the meantime, proper
means were employed to satisfy Hiram for the assaults on his
person ; and on the same day, the two comrades issued together
into society again, with their characters not at all affected by the
imprisonment.
‘ Mr. Doolittle began to discover, that _neither-architecture, nor
494 s THE PIONEERS.
his law, was quite suitable to the growing wealth and intelli-
gence of. the settlement ; and after exacting the last cent that
was attainable in his compromises, to use the language of the
country, 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 present hour.
Poor Jotham, whose life paid the forfeiture of his folly,
acknowledged before he died, that his reasons for believing in a
mine were extracted from the lips of a sibyl, who, by looking in
a magic glass, was enabled to discover the hidden treasures of
the earth. Such superstition was frequent in the new settle-
ments; and after the first surprise was over, the better part of
the community forgot the subject. But, at the same time that
it removed from the breast of Richard a lingering suspicion of
the acts of the three hunters, it conveyed a mortifying lesson to
him, which brought many quiet hours, in future, to his cousin
Marmaduke. It may be remembered, that the Sheriff con-
fidently pronounced this to be no “ visionary” scheme, and that
word was enough to shut his lips, at any time within the next
ven years. |
Monsieur Le Quoi, who has been introduced to our readers, _
because no picture of that country would be faithful without
some such character, found the island of Martinique, and his
“ sucre-boosh,” in possession of the English ; but Marmaduke
and his family were much gratified in soon hearing that he had
returned to his bureau, in Paris; where he 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 the
elasticity of the air is felt while it is inhaled, imparting vigor
and life to the whole system ;—the weather, neither too warm
nor too cold, but of that happy temperature which stirs the
blood, without bringing the lassitude of spring It was on such
THE PIONEERS, 495
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
Jake side. The tender melancholy in the manner of her hus-
band caught the attention of Elizabeth, who instantly abandoned
her concerns, threw a light shawl across her shoulders, and con-
_ cealing her raven hair under a gipsy, 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, the object of the walk, and
respected the feelings of her companion too much to indulge in
untimely conversation. But when they gained the open fields,
and her eye roamed over the placid lake, covered with wild
fowl already journeying from the great northern waters to seek
@ warmer sun, but lingering to play in the limpid sheet of the
Otsego, and to the sides of the mountain, which were gay with
the thousand dyes of autumn, as if to grace their bridal, the
swelling heart of the young wife burst out in speech.
“This is not a time for silence, Oliver!” she said, clinging
more fondly to his arm; “everything in nature seems to speak
the praises of the Creator ; why should we, who have so much
to be grateful for, be silent ?”
“Speak on !” said her husband, smiling ; “I love the sounds
of your voice. You must anticipate our errand hither: I have
told you my plans: how do you like them ””
“T 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 alwavs ‘near us.” |
“496 THE PIONEERS.
“You do!” said Elizabeth, slightly compressing her lips;
but poor Louisa may have other cat for herself; she may
wish to follow my example, and marry.”
“T don’t think it,” said Effingham, musing a moment; “I
really don’t know any one hereabouts good enough for her.”
“Perhaps not here; but there are other places besides Tem-
pleton, and other churches besides ‘ New St. Paul’s.’”
“Churches, Elizabeth! .you would not wish to lose Mr.
Grant, surely! Though simple, he is an excellent man. I
shall never find another who has half the veneration for my
orthodoxy. ou would humble me Re a saint to a very
common sinner.”
“It must be done, sir,’ returned the iadis 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 compress-
ing her beautiful lips. “You know, Effingham, that my father
has told you that I ruled him, and that I should rule you. —
I am now about to exert my power.”
“ Anything, anything, dear Elizabeth, but not at the expense
of us all; not at the expense of your friend.”
“How do you know, sir, that it will be so much at the
expense of my friend?” said the lady, fixing her eyes with
a searching look on his countenance, where they met only
the unsuspecting expression of manly regret.
“ How a I know it? why, it is natural that she should
regret us.’
“Tt is our duty to struggle with our natural feelings,”
returned the lady; “and there is but little cause to fear
that such a spirit as Louisa’s will not effect it.”
“ But what is your plan 2?”
“ Listen, and you shall know. My father has procured a call
THE PIONEERS. 497
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 lifein comfort and quiet ;
and where his daughter may meet with such society, and form
such a connexion, as may be proper for one of her years and cha-
racter.”
“Bess! you amaze me! I did not think you had been sucha
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 common consent.
The place at which they arrived was the little spot of
level ground, where the cabin of the Leather-stocking had
so long stood. Elizabeth found it entirely cleared of rubbish,
and beautifully laid down in turf, by the removal of sods,
which, in common with the surrounding country, had grown
gay, under the influence of profuse showers, as if a second
spring had passed over the land. This little place was sur-
rounded by a circle of mason-work, and they entered by a small
gate, near which, to the surprise of both, the rifle of Natty was
leaning against the wall. Hector and the slut reposed on the
grass by its side, as if conscious that, however altered, they were
lying on the ground, and were ‘surrounded by objects, with
which they were familiar. The hunter himself was stretched on
the earth, before a head-stone of white marble, pushing aside
with his fingers the long grass that had already sprung up from
the luxuriant soil around its base, apparently to lay bare the
inscription. By the side of this stone, which was a simple slab
at the head of a grave, stood a rich monument, decorated with
an urn, and ornamented with the chisel.
Oliver and Elizabeth approached the graves with a light
tread, unheard by the old hunter, whose sunburnt face was
working, and whose eyes twinkled as if something impeded
498 THE PIONEERS.
their vision. After some little time, Natty raised pacar
slowly from the ground, and said aloud—
“Well, well—I’m bold to say it’s all right! There’s some-
thing that I suppose is reading; but I can’t make anything of
it; though the pipe and the tomahawk, and the moccasins, be
pretty well—pretty well, for a man that, I dares to say, never
seed ’ither of the things. Ah’s me! there they lie, side by side,
happy enough! Who will there be to put me in the ’arth
when my time comes ?”
“When that unfortunate hour arrives, Natty, friends shall
not be wanting to perform the last offices for you,” said Oliver,
a little touched at the hunter’s soliloquy.
The old man turned, without manifesting surprise, for he had
got the Indian habits in this particular, and running his hand
under the bottom of his nose, seemed to wipe away his sorrow
with the action.
“You’ve come out to see the graves, children, have ye ?”
he said; “well, well, they’re wholesome sights to young as
well as old.”
“T hope they are fitted to your liking,” said Effingham ;
“no one has a better right than yourself to be consulted in
the matter.”
“Why, seeing that I an’t used to fine graves,” returned
the old man, “it is but little matter consarning my taste. Ye
_ laid the Major’s head to the west, and Mohegan’s to the east,
did ye, lad ?”
“ At your request it was done.”
“It’s so best,” said the hunter; “they thought they had to
journey different ways, children; though there is One greater
than all, who'll bring the just together, at his own time, and
who'll whiten the skin of a black-moor, and place him on
a footing with princes.”
“There is but little reason to doubt that,” said Elizabeth,
whose decided tones were changed to a soft, melancholy voice;
“T trust we shall all meet again, and be happy together.”
THE PIONEERS. 499
“Shall we, child, shall we?’ exclaimed the hunter, with
unusual fervor; “there’s comfort in that thought too. But
before I go, I should like to know what ’tis you tell these
people, that be flocking into the country like pigeons in the
spring, of the old Delaware, and of the bravest white man
that ever trod the hills.”
Effingham and Elizabeth were surprised at the manner of the
Leather-stocking, which was unusually impressive and solemn ;
but, attributing it to the scene, the young man turned to the
monument, and read aloud—
“*Sacred to the memory of Oliver Effingham, Esquire, for-
merly a Major in his B. Majesty’s 60th Foot; a soldier of tried
valor; a subject of chivalrous loyalty; and a man of honesty.
To these virtues, he added the graces of a Christian. The morn-
ing of his life was spent in honor, wealth, and power; but its
evening was obscured by poverty, neglect, and disease, which
were alleviated only by the tender care of his old, faithful, and
upright friend and attendant, Nathaniel Bumppo. His descen-
dants 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 nee his wrinkled features, as_ he
said—
“ And did ye say it, lad? have you then got the old man’s
name cut in the stone, by the side of his master’s ? God bless
ys, children! ’twas a kind thought, and kindness goes to the
heart as life shortens.” 3 !
Elizabeth turned her back to the speakers. Effingham made
a fruitless effort before he succeeded in saying—
“Tt 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 eager-
ness; “let me see my own name placed in such honor. ’Tis a
gin’rous gift to a man who leaves none of his name and family
behind him, in a country where he has tarried so long.”
Effingham guided his finger to the spot, and Natty followed
500 THE PIONEERS.
the windings of the letters to the end with deep interest, when
he raised himself from the tomb, and said—
“T suppose it’s all right; and it’s kindly thought, and kindly
done! But what have ye put over the Red-skin?” =
“You shall hear—
“<¢This stone is raised to the memory of an Indian Chief, of
the Delaware tribe, who was known by the several names of
John Mohegan ; Mohican——’ ”
“* Mo-hee-can, lad, they call theirselves! ’he-can.”
“ Mohican; and Chingagook ne
“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.”
“T will see it altered. ‘He was the last of his people who
continued to inhabit this country; and it may be said of him,
_ that his faults were those of an Indian, and his virtues those of
| a man.”
“You never said truer word, Mr. Oliver; ah’s me! if you had
know’d him as I did, in his prime, in that very battle where the
old gentleman, who sleeps by his side, saved his life, when them
thieves, the Iroquois, had him at the stake, you’d have said all
that, and more too. I cut the thongs with this very hand, and
gave him my own tomahawk and knife, seeing that th® rifle
was always my fav’rite weapon. He did lay about him like a
man! I met him as I was coming home from the trail, with
eleven Mingo scalps on his pole. You needn’t shudder, Madam
Effingham, for they was all from shaved heads and warriors.
When I look about me, at these hills, where I used to could
count sometimes twenty smokes, curling over the tree-tops, from
the Delaware camps, it raises mournful thoughts, to think that
not a Red-skin is left of them all; unless it be a drunken vaga-
bond from 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 seeming, being, as it were, neither fish
nor flesh—neither white man nor savage. Well, well! the
time has come at last, and I must go—”
THE PIONEERS. 501
“Go!” echoed Edwards, “ whither do you go %”
The Leather-stocking, who had imbibed, unconsciously, many
of the Indian qualities, though he always thought of himself as
of a civilized being, compared with even the Delawarés, averted
his face to conceal the workings of his muscles, as he stooped to
lift a large pack from behind the tomb, which he placed delibe-
rately on his shoulders.
“Go!” exclaimed Elizabeth, approaching him with a hurried
step ; “you should not venture so far in the woods alone, at
your time of life, Natty; indeed, it is imprudent. He is bent,
Effingham, on some distant hunting.”
“What Mrs. Effingham tells you is true, Leather-stocking,”
said Edwards; “ there can be no necessity for your submitting
to such hardships now! So throw aside your pack, and confine
your hunt to the mountains near us, if you will go.”
“ Hardship ! ’tis a pleasure, children, and the greatest that is
left me on this side the grave.”
* No, no; you shall not go to such a distance,” cried Eliza-
beth, laying her white hand on his deer-skin pack—“I am
right ! I feel his camp-kettle, and a canister of powder ! he must
not be suffered to wander so far from us, Oliver; remember
how suddenly Mohegan dropped away.”
“T know’d the parting would come hard, children; 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 keepsake which
the Major gave me, when we first parted in the woods, ye
wouldn’t take it unkind, but would know, that, let the old man’s
body go where it might, his feelings stayed behind him.”
“This means something more than common!” exclaimed the
youth ; “ where is it, Natty, that you purpose going ?”
The hunter drew nigh him with a confident, reasoning air,
as if what he had to say would silence all objections, and
replied— '
“ Why, lad, they tell me, that on the Big-lakes there’s the
best of hunting, and a great range, without a white man on it,
unless it may be one like myself. I’m weary of living in clear-
502 THE PIONEERS.
ings, and where the hammer is sounding in my ears from
sunrise to sundown. And though I’m much bound to ye both,
children—I wouldn’t say it if it was not true—I crave to go
into the woods 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 comfort sin’ your father come
on with his settlers ; but I wouldn’t go far, while the life was in
the body that lies under the sod there. But now he’s gone,
and Chingachgook is gone; and you be both young and happy.
Yes! the big house has rung with merriment this month past !
And now, I thought, was the time to try to get a little comfort
in the close of my days. Woods! indeed! I doesn’t call these
woods, Madam Effingham, where I lose myself every day of my
life in the clearings.”
“Tf there be anything wanting to your connie name it,
Leather-stocking ; if it be attainable it is yours.”
“ You mean all for the best, lad; I know it; 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 3
begun, and we shall meet in the land of the just at last.”
“This is so new! so unexpected!” said Elizabeth, in almost
breathless excitement; “I had thought you meant to live with
us and die with us, Natty.”
“Words are of no avail,” exclaimed her husband; “ the
habits of forty years are not to be dispossessed by the ties of a
day. I know you too well to urge you further, Natty; unless
you will let me build you a hut on one of the distant hills,
where we can sometimes see you, and know that you are
comfortable.”
“Don’t fear for the Leather-stocking, children ; God will see
that his days be provided for, and his ind happy. I know you
mean all for the best, but our ways doesn’t agree. I love the
THE PIONEERS. 5038
woods, and ye relish the face of man; I eat when hungry, and
drink when a-dry; and ye keep seated 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 formed for the wilder-
ness ; if ye love me, let me go where my soul craves to be
ag’ in ! 19
The appeal was decisive; and 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
perform 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.
“This, then, is some of the new-fashioned money that they’ve
been making at Albany, out of paper! It can’t be worth much
to they that hasn’t larning! No, no, lad—take back the stuff;
it will do me no sarvice. I took kear to get all the French-
man’s powder afore he broke up, and they say lead grows
where ’'m going. It isn’t even fit for wads, seeing that 1
use none but leather!—Madam Effingham, let an old man
kiss your hand, and wish God’s choicest blessings on you and
your’n.”
“Once more let me beseech you, stay!” cried Elizabeth.
“Do not, Leather-stocking, leave me to grieve for the man
who has twice rescued me from death, and who has served
those I love so faithfully. For my sake, if not for your own,
stay. I shall see you in those frightful dreams that still haunt
my nights, dying in poverty and age, by the side of those terrific
beasts you slew. There will be no evil, that sickness, want,
and solitude can inflict, that my fancy will not conjure as your
504 THE PIONEERS.
fate. Stay with us, old man, if not for your own sake, at least
for ours.”
“Such thoughts and bitter dreams, Madam Effingham,”
returned the hunter, solemnly, “will never haunt an innocent
parson long. They’ll pass away with God’s pleasure. And if
the cat-a-mounts be yet brought to your eyes in sleep, ’tis not
for my sake, but to show you the power of Him that led me
there to save you. ‘Trust in God, Madam, and your honorable
husband, and the thoughts for an old man like me can never be
long nor bitter. I pray that the Lord will keep you in mind—
the Lord that lives in clearings as well as in the wilderness—
and bless you, and all that belong to you, from this time till the
great day when the whites shall meet the red-skins in judgment,
and justice shall be the law, and not power.”
Elizabeth raised her head, and offered her colorless cheek to
his salute, when he lifted his cap and touched it respectfully.
His hand was grasped with convulsive fervor by the youth, who
continued silent. The hunter prepared himself for his journey,
drawing his belt tighter, and wasting his moments in the little
reluctant movements of a sorrowful departure. Once or twice he
essayed to speak, but a rising in his throat prevented it. At
length he shouldered his rifle, and cried with a clear huntsman’s_ ,
call that echoed through the woods—
“ He-e-e-re, he-e-e-re, pups—away, dogs, away ;—ye'll be
foot-sore afore ye see the ind of the journey !”
The hounds leaped from the earth at this ery, and scenting
around the graves and the silent pair, as if conscious of their
own destination, they followed humbly at the heels of their -
master. A short pause succeeded, during which even the
youth concealed his face on his grandfather’s tomb. When the
pride of manhood, however, had suppressed the feelings of
nature, he turned to renew his entreaties, but saw that the
cemetery was occupied only by himself and his wife.
“He is gone!” cried Effingham.
Elizabeth raised her face, and saw the old hunter standing,
THE PIONEERS. 505
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
ery to his dogs, who were crouching at his feet, he entered the
forest.
This was the last that they ever saw of the Leather-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 the nation across the
continent.
THE END.
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