“Poor wretch! the mother that him bare,
If she had been in presence there,
In his wan face, and sunburnt hair,
She had not known her child.”
--Scott.
It diminished, in no degree, the effect produced by the conversation
which passed between Judge Temple and the I young hunter, that the
former took the arm of his daughter and drew it through his own, when
he advanced from the spot whither Richard had led him to that where the
youth was standing, leaning on his rifle, and contemplating the dead
bird at his feet. The presence of Marmaduke did not interrupt the
sports, which were resumed by loud and clamorous disputes concerning the
conditions of a chance that involved the life of a bird of much inferior
quality to the last. Leather-Stocking and Mohegan had alone drawn aside
to their youthful companion; and, although in the immediate vicinity of
such a throng, the following conversation was heard only by those who
were interested in it.
“I have greatly injured you, Mr. Edwards,” said the Judge; but the
sudden and inexplicable start with which the person spoken to received
this unexpected address, caused him to pause a moment. As no answer was
given, and the strong emotion exhibited in the countenance of the youth
gradually passed away, he continued: “But fortunately it is in some
measure in my power to compensate you for what I have done. My kinsman,
Richard Jones, has received an appointment that will, in future, deprive
me of his assistance, and leave me, just now, destitute of one who might
greatly aid me with his pen. Your manner, notwithstanding appearances,
is a sufficient proof of your education, nor will thy shoulder suffer
thee to labor, for some time to come.” (Marmaduke insensibly relapsed
into the language of the Friends as he grew warm.) “My doors are open
to thee, my young friend, for in this infant country we harbor no
suspicions; little offering to tempt the cupidity of the evil-disposed.
Be come my assistant, for at least a season, and receive such
compensation as thy services will deserve.”
There was nothing in the manner of the offer of the Judge to justify the
reluctance, amounting nearly to loathing, with which the youth listened
to his speech; but, after a powerful effort for self-command, he
replied:
“I would serve you, sir, or any other man, for an honest support, for I
do not affect to conceal that my necessities are very great, even beyond
what appearances would indicate; but I am fearful that such new duties
would interfere too much with more important business; so that I must
decline your offer, and depend on my rifle, as before, for subsistence.”
Richard here took occasion to whisper to the young lady, who had shrunk
a little from the foreground of the picture:
“This, you see, Cousin Bess, is the natural reluctance of a half-breed
to leave the savage state. Their attachment to a wandering life is, I
verily believe, unconquerable.”
“It is a precarious life,” observed Marmaduke, without hearing the
sheriff's observation, “and one that brings more evils with it than
present suffering. Trust me, young friend, my experience is greater than
thine, when I tell thee that the unsettled life of these hunters is of
vast disadvantage for temporal purposes, and it totally removes one from
the influence of more sacred things.”
“No, no, Judge,” interrupted the Leather-Stocking, who was hitherto
unseen, or disregarded; “take him into your shanty in welcome, but tell
him truth. I have lived in the woods for forty long years, and have
spent five at a time without seeing the light of a clearing bigger than
a window in the trees; and I should like to know where you'll find a
man, in his sixty-eighth year, who can get an easier living, for all
your betterments and your deer laws; and, as for honesty, or doing
what's right between man and man, I'll not turn my back to the
longest-winded deacon on your Patent.”
“Thou art an exception, Leather-Stocking,” returned the Judge, nodding
good-naturedly at the hunter; “for thou hast a temperance unusual in thy
class, and a hardihood exceeding thy years. But this youth is made of
materials too precious to be wasted in the forest--I entreat thee to
join my family, if it be but till thy arm is healed. My daughter here,
who is mistress of my dwelling, wilt tell thee that thou art welcome.”
“Certainly,” said Elizabeth, whose earnestness was a little checked
by female reserve. “The unfortunate would be welcome at any time, but
doubly so when we feel that we have occasioned the evil ourselves,”
“Yes,” said Richard, “and if you relish turkey, young man, there are
plenty in the coops, and of the best kind, I can assure you.”
Finding himself thus ably seconded, Marmaduke pushed his advantage to
the utmost. He entered into a detail of the duties that would attend
the situation, and circumstantially mentioned the reward, and all those
points which are deemed of importance among men of business. The youth
listened in extreme agitation. There was an evident contest in his
feelings; at times he appeared to wish eagerly for the change, and
then again the incomprehensible expression of disgust would cross his
features, like a dark cloud obscuring a noonday sun.
The Indian, in whose manner the depression of self-abasement was most
powerfully exhibited, listened to the offers of the Judge with an
interest that increased with each syllable. Gradually he drew nigher to
the group and when, with his keen glance, he detected the most marked
evidence of yielding in the countenance of his young companion, he
changed at once from his attitude and look of shame to the front of an
Indian warrior, and moving, with great dignity, closer to the parties,
he spoke.
“Listen to your father,” he said; “his words are old. Let the Young
Eagle and the Great Land Chief eat together; let them sleep, without
fear, near each other. The children of Miquon love not blood: they are
just, and will do right. The sun must rise and set often, Before men
can make one family; it is not the work of a day, but of many winters.
The Mingoes and the Delawares are born enemies; their blood can never
mix in the wigwam; it never will run in the same stream in the battle.
What makes the brother of Miquon and the Young Eagle foes? They are of
the same tribe; their fathers and mothers are one. Learn to wait, my
son, you are a Delaware, and an Indian warrior knows how to be patient.”
This figurative address seemed to have great weight with the young
man, who gradually yielded to the representations of Marmaduke,
and eventually consented to his proposal. It was, however, to be an
experiment only; and, if either of the parties thought fit to rescind
the engagement, it was left at his option so to do. The remarkable and
ill-concealed reluctance of the youth to accept of an offer, which
most men in his situation would consider as an unhoped-for elevation,
occasioned no little surprise in those to whom he was a stranger; and
it left a slight impression to his disadvantage. When the parties
separated, they very naturally made the subject the topic of a
conversation, which we shall relate; first commencing with the Judge,
his daughter, and Richard, who were slowly pursuing the way back to the
mansion-house.
“I have surely endeavored to remember the holy man dates of our
Redeemer, when he bids us 'love them who despitefully use you,' in my
intercourse with this incomprehensible boy,” said Marmaduke. “I know not
what there is in my dwelling to frighten a lad of his years, unless it
may he thy presence and visage, Bess.”
“No, no,” said Richard, with great simplicity, “it is not Cousin
Bess. But when did you ever know a half-breed, 'Duke, who could
bear civilization? For that matter, they are worse than the savages
themselves! Did you notice how knock-kneed he stood, Elizabeth, and what
a wild look he had in his eyes?”
“I heeded not his eyes, nor his knees, which would be all the better
for a little humbling. Really, my dear sir, I think you did exercise
the Christian virtue of patience to the utmost. I was disgusted with his
airs, long before he consented to make one of our family. Truly we are
much honored by the association! In what apartment is he to be placed,
sir; and at what table is he to receive his nectar and ambrosia?”
“With Benjamin and Remarkable,” interrupted Mr. Jones; “you sorely would
not make the youth eat with the blacks! He is part Indian, it is true;
but the natives hold the negroes in great contempt. No, no; he would
starve before he would break a crust with the negroes.”
“I am but too happy, Dickon, to tempt him to eat with ourselves,” said
Marmaduke, “to think of offering even the indignity you propose.”
“Then, sir,” said Elizabeth, with an air that was slightly affected, as
if submitting to her father's orders in opposition to her own will, “it
is your pleasure that he be a gentleman.”
“Certainly; he is to fill the station of one. Let him receive the
treatment that is due to his place, until we find him unworthy of it.”
“Well, well, 'Duke,” cried the sheriff, “you will find it no easy matter
to make a gentleman of him. The old proverb says that 'it takes three
generations to make a gentleman.' There was my father whom everybody
knew my grandfather was an M.D., and his father a D.D.; and his father
came from England, I never could come at the truth of his origin; but
he was either a great mer chant in London, or a great country lawyer, or
the youngest son of a bishop.”
“Here is a true American genealogy for you,” said Marmaduke, laughing.
“It does very well till you get across the water, where, as everything
is obscure, it is certain to deal in the superlative. You are sure that
your English progenitor was great, Dickon, whatever his profession might
have been?”
“To be sure I am,” returned the other. “I have heard my old aunt talk of
him by the month. We are of a good family, Judge Temple, and have never
filled any but honorable stations in life.”
“I marvel that you should be satisfied with so scanty a provision of
gentility in the olden time, Dickon. Most of the American genealogists
commence their traditions like the stories for children, with three
brothers, taking especial care that one of the triumvirate shall be
the progenitor of any of the same name who may happen to be better
furnished with worldly gear than themselves. But, here, all are equal
who know how to conduct themselves with propriety; and Oliver Edwards
comes into my family on a footing with both the high sheriff and the
judge.”
“Well, 'Duke, I call this democracy, not republicanism; but I say
nothing; only let him keep within the law, or I shall show him that the
freedom of even this country is under wholesome restraint.”
“Surely, Dickon, you will not execute till I condemn! But what says Bess
to the new inmate? We must pay a deference to the ladies in this matter,
after all.”
“Oh, sir!” returned Elizabeth, “I believe I am much like a certain Judge
Temple in this particular--not easily to be turned from my opinion. But,
to be serious, although I must think the introduction of a demi-savage
into the family a somewhat startling event, whomsoever you think proper
to countenance may be sure of my respect.”
The Judge drew her arm more closely in his own and smiled, while Richard
led the way through the gate of the little court-yard in the rear of
the dwelling, dealing out his ambiguous warnings with his accustomed
loquacity.
On the other hand, the foresters--for the three hunters, notwithstanding
their difference in character, well deserved this common name--pursued
their course along the skirts of the village in silence. It was not
until they had reached the lake, and were moving over its frozen surface
toward the foot of the mountain, where the hut stood, that the youth
exclaimed:
“Who could have foreseen this a month since! I have consented to serve
Marmaduke Temple--to be an inmate in the dwelling of the greatest enemy
of my race; yet what better could I do? The servitude cannot be long;
and, when the motive for submitting to it ceases to exist, I will shake
it off like the dust from my feet.”
“Is he a Mingo, that you will call him enemy?” said Mohegan. “The
Delaware warrior sits still, and waits the time of the Great Spirit. He
is no woman, to cry out like a child.”
“Well, I'm mistrustful, John,” said Leather-Stocking, in whose air there
had been, during the whole business, a strong expression of doubt and
uncertainty. “They say that there's new laws in the land, and I'm sartin
that there's new ways in the mountains. One hardly knows the lakes and
streams, they've altered the country so much. I must say I'm mistrustful
of such smooth speakers; for I've known the whites talk fair when
they wanted the Indian lands most. This I will say, though I'm a white
myself, and was born nigh York, and of honest parents, too.”
“I will submit,” said the youth; “I will forget who I am. Cease to
remember, old Mohegan, that I am the descendant of a Delaware chief, who
once was master of these noble hills, these beautiful vales, and of this
water, over which we tread. Yes, yes; I will become his bonds man--his
slave, Is it not an honorable servitude, old man?”
“Old man!” repeated the Indian solemnly, and pausing in his walk, as
usual, when much excited; “yes, John is old. Son of my brother! if
Mohegan was young, when would his rifle be still? Where would the deer
hide, and he not find him? But John is old; his hand is the hand of a
squaw; his tomahawk is a hatchet; brooms and baskets are his enemies--he
strikes no other. Hunger and old age come together. See Hawk-eye! when
young, he would go days and eat nothing; but should he not put the brush
on the fire now, the blaze would go out. Take the son of Miquon by the
hand, and he will help you.”
“I'm not the man I was, I'll own, Chingachgook,” returned the
Leather-Stocking; “but I can go without a meal now, on occasion. When
we tracked the Iroquois through the 'Beech-woods,' they drove the
game afore them, for I hadn't a morsel to eat from Monday morning come
Wednesday sundown, and then I shot as fat a buck, on the Pennsylvany
line, as ever mortal laid eyes on. It would have done your heart good to
have seen the Delaware eat; for I was out scouting and skrimmaging with
their tribe at the time. Lord! The Indians, lad, lay still, and just
waited till Providence should send them their game, but I foraged about,
and put a deer up, and put him down too, afore he had made a dozen
jumps. I was too weak and too ravenous to stop for his flesh, so I took
a good drink of his blood, and the Indians ate of his meat raw. John was
there, and John knows. But then starvation would be apt to be too much
for me now, I will own, though I'm no great eater at any time.”
“Enough is said, my friend,” cried the youth. “I feel that everywhere
the sacrifice is required at my hands, and it shall be made; but say no
more, I entreat you; I can not bear this subject now.”
His companions were silent; and they soon reached the hut, which they
entered, after removing certain complicated and ingenious fastenings,
that were put there apparently to guard a property of but very little
value. Immense piles of snow lay against the log walls of this secluded
habitation on one side; while fragments of small trees, and branches
of oak and chestnut, that had been torn from their parent stems by the
winds, were thrown into a pile on the other. A small column of smoke
rose through a chimney of sticks, cemented with clay, along the side of
the rock, and had marked the snow above with its dark tinges, in a wavy
line, from the point of emission to an other, where the hill receded
from the brow of a precipice, and held a soil that nourished trees of a
gigantic growth, that overhung the little bottom beneath.
The remainder of the day passed off as such days are commonly spent in a
new country. The settlers thronged to the academy again, to witness the
second effort of Mr. Grant; and Mohegan was one of his hearers. But, not
withstanding the divine fixed his eyes intently on the Indian when he
invited his congregation to advance to the table, the shame of last
night's abasement was yet too keen in the old chief to suffer him to
move.
When the people were dispersing, the clouds that had been gathering
all the morning were dense and dirty, and before half of the curious
congregation had reached their different cabins, that were placed in
every glen and hollow of the mountains, or perched on the summits of the
hills themselves, the rain was falling in torrents. The dark edges of
the stumps began to exhibit themselves, as the snow settled rapidly;
the fences of logs and brush, which before had been only traced by long
lines of white mounds, that ran across the valley and up the mountains,
peeped out from their covering, and the black stubs were momentarily
becoming more distinct, as large masses of snow and ice fell from their
sides, under the influence of the thaw.
Sheltered in the warm hall of her father's comfortable mansion,
Elizabeth, accompanied by Louisa Grant, looked abroad with admiration
at the ever-varying face of things without. Even the village, which
had just before been glittering with the color of the frozen element,
reluctantly dropped its mask, and the houses exposed their dark roofs
and smoked chimneys. The pines shook off the covering of snow, and
everything seemed to be assuming its proper hues with a transition that
bordered on the supernatural.