Chapter XVI

by James Fenimore Cooper

　　"Watch (aside). Some treason, masters--Yet stand close."--Much Ado About Nothing.

　　It was fortunate for more than one of the bacchanalians who left the"Bold Dragoon" late in the evening that the severe cold of the seasonwas becoming rapidly less dangerous as they threaded the differentmazes through the snow-banks that led to their respective dwellings.Then driving clouds began toward morning to flit across the heavens,and the moon set behind a volume of vapor that was impelled furiouslytoward the north, carrying with it the softer atmosphere from thedistant ocean. The rising sun was obscured by denser and increasingcolumns of clouds, while the southerly wind that rushed up the valleybrought the never-failing symptoms of a thaw.

　　It was quite late in the morning before Elizabeth, observing the faintglow which appeared on the eastern mountain long after the light ofthe sun had struck the opposite hills, ventured from the house, with aview to gratify her curiosity with a glance by daylight at thesurrounding objects before the tardy revellers of the Christmas eveshould make their appearance at the breakfast- table. While she wasdrawing the folds of her pelisse more closely around her form, toguard against a cold that was yet great though rapidly yielding, inthe small inclosure that opened in the rear of the house on a littlethicket of low pines that were springing up where trees of a mightiergrowth 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 onyou. I never was in a house yet where I didnt get the firstChristmas greeting on every soul in it, man, woman, and child--greatand small--black, white, and yellow. But stop a minute till I can justslip 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 willbe an hour before Duke and the Major can sleep off Mrs. Hollistersconfounded distillations, and so Ill come down and go with you.

　　Elizabeth turned and observed her cousin in his night cap, with hishead out of his bedroom window, where his zeal for pre-eminence, indefiance of the weather, had impelled him to thrust it. She laughed,and promising to wait for his company re-entered the house, making herappearance again, holding in her hand a packet that was secured byseveral large and important seals, just in time to meet the gentleman.

　　"Come, Bessy, come," he cried, drawing one of her arms through hisown; " the snow begins to give, but it will bear us yet. Dont yousnuff old Pennsylvania in the very air? This is a vile climate, girl;now at sunset, last evening, it was cold enough to freeze a manszeal, 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 quitemild, and here all the rest of the night I have been so hot as not tobear a blanket on the bed. --Holla! Aggy--merry Christmas, Aggy--I say,do you hear me, you black dog! theres a dollar for you; and if thegentle men get up before I come back, do you come out and let me know.I wouldnt have 'Duke get the start of me for the worth of your head."

　　The black caught the money from the snow, and promising a due degreeof 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 thekitchen, to exhibit his present, with a heart as light as his face washappy in its expression.

　　"Oh, rest easy, my dear coz," said the young lady; "I took a look inat my father, who is likely to sleep an hour; and by using duevigilance you will secure all the honors of the season."

　　"Why, Duke is your father, Elizabeth ; but Duke is a man who likes tobe foremost, even in trifles. Now, as for myself, I care for no suchthings, except in the way of competition; for a thing which is of nomoment in itself may be made of importance in the way of competition.So it is with your father--he loves to he first; but I only; strugglewith him as a competitor."

　　"Its all very clear, sir," said Elizabeth; "you would not care a figfor distinction if there were no one in the world but yourself; but asthere happens to be a great many others, why, you must struggle withthem all--in the way of competition."

　　"Exactly so; I see you are a clever girl, Bess, and one who doescredit to her masters. It was my plan to send you to that school; forwhen your father first mentioned the thing, I wrote a private letterfor advice to a judicious friend in the city, who recommended the veryschool you went to. Duke was a little obstinate at first, as usual,but when he heard the truth he was obliged to send you."

　　"Well, a truce to Dukes foibles, sir; he is my father, and if youknew what he has been doing for you while we were in Albany, you woulddeal more tenderly with his character."

　　"For me!" cried Richard, pausing a moment in his walk to reflect."Oh! he got the plans of the new Dutch meeting-house for me, Isuppose; but I care very little about it, for a man of a certain kindof talent is seldom aided by any foreign suggestions; his own brain isthe best architect."

　　"No such thing," said Elizabeth, looking provokingly knowing.

　　"No! let me see--perhaps he had my name put in the bill for the newturnpike, as a director."

　　"He might possibly; but it is not to such an appointment that Iallude."

　　"Such an appointment!" repeated Mr. Jones, who began to fidget withcuriosity; "then it is an appointment. If it is in the militia, Iwont take it.

　　"No, no, it is not in the militia," cried Elizabeth, showing thepacket in her hand, and then drawing it back with a coquettish air;"it is an office of both honor and emolument."

　　"Honor and emolument!" echoed Richard, in painful suspense; "show methe 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 thecounty; at least so said my father when he gave me this packet tooffer you as a Christmas-box. Surely, if anything will pleaseDickon, he said, it will be to fill the executive chair of thecounty."

　　"Executive chair! what nonsense!" cried the impatient gentleman,snatching the packet from her hand; "there is no such office in thecounty. Eh! what! it is, I declare, a commission, appointing RichardJones, Esquire, sheriff of the county. Well, this is kind in Duke,positively. I must say Duke has a warm heart, and never forgets hisfriends. Sheriff! High Sheriff of --! it sounds well, Bess, but itshall execute better. Duke is a judicious man after all, and knowshuman nature thoroughly, Im much obliged to him," continued Richard,using the skirt of his coat unconsciously to wipe his eyes; "though Iwould do as much for him any day, as he shall see, if I have anopportunity to perform any of the duties of my office on him. Itshall be done, Cousin Bess----it shall be done, I say. How thiscursed south wind makes ones eyes water!"

　　"Now, Richard," said the laughing maiden, "now I think you will findsomething to do. I have often heard you complain of old that therewas nothing to do in this new country, while to my eyes it seemed asif everything remained to be done."

　　"Do!" echoed Richard, who blew his nose, raised his little form to itsgreatest elevation, and looked serious. "Everything depends onsystem, girl. I shall sit down this afternoon and systematize thecounty. I must have deputies, you know. I will divide the countyinto districts, over which I will place my deputies; and I will haveone for the village, which I will call my home department. Let mesee--ho! Benjamin! yes, Benjamin will make a good deputy; he has beennaturalized, and would answer admirably if he could only ride onhorseback."

　　"Yes, Mr. Sheriff," said his companion; "and as he understands ropesso well, he would be very expert, should occasion happen for hisservices in another way."

　　"No," interrupted the other; "I flatter myself that no man could hanga man better than--that is--ha!--oh! yes, Benjamin would do extremelywell in such an unfortunate dilemma, if he could be persuaded toattempt it. But I should despair of the thing. I never could inducehim to hang, or teach him to ride on horseback. I must seek anotherdeputy.""Well, sir, as you have abundant leisure for all these importantaffairs, I beg that you will forget that you are high sheriff, anddevote some little of your time to gallantry. Where are the beautiesand improvements which you were to show me?"

　　"Where? why, everywhere! Here I have laid out some new streets; andwhen 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-heartedfellow, with all his stubbornness. Yes, yes; I must have at leastfour deputies, besides a jailer."

　　"I see no streets in the direction of our walk," said Elizabeth,"unless you call the short avenues through these pine bushes by thatname. Surely you do not contemplate building houses, very soon, inthat 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 isthe will of your father, and your father, you know----"

　　"Had you made sheriff, Mr. Jones," interrupted the lady, with a tonethat said very plainly to the gentleman that he was touching aforbidden subject.

　　"I know it, I know it," cried Richard; "and if it were in my power,Id make Duke a king. He is a noble hearted fellow, and would makean excellent king; that is, if he had a good prime minister. But whohave we here? voices in the bushes--a combination about mischief, Illwager my commission. Let us draw near and examine a little into thematter."

　　During this dialogue, as the parties had kept in motion, Richard andhis cousin advanced some distance from the house into the open spacein the rear of the village, where, as may be gathered from theconversation, streets were planned and future dwellings contemplated;but where, in truth, the only mark of improvement that was to be seenwas a neglected clearing along the skirt of a dark forest of mightypines, over which the bushes or sprouts of the same tree had sprung upto a height that interspersed the fields of snow with little thicketsof evergreen. The rushing of the wind, as it whistled through thetops of these mimic trees, prevented the footsteps of the pair frombeing 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 earnestconsultation. The former was urgent in his manner, and seemed tothink the subject of deep importance, while Natty appeared to listenwith 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, andhis whole attitude expressive of deep dejection, if not of shame.Let us withdraw," whispered Elizabeth; " we are intruders, and canhave 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 herretreat; "you forget, cousin, that it is my duty to preserve the peaceof the county and see the laws executed, these wanderers frequentlycommit depredations, though I do not think John would do anythingsecretly. Poor fellow! he was quite boozy last night, and hardlyseems to be over it yet. Let us draw nigher and hear what they say."

　　Notwithstanding the ladys reluctance, Richard, stimulated doubtlessby his sense of duty, prevailed; and they were soon so near asdistinctly to hear sounds.

　　"The bird must he had," said Natty, "by fair means or foul. Heigho!Ive known the time, lad, when the wild turkeys wasnt over-scarce inthe country; though you must go into the Virginia gaps if you wantthem now. to be sure, there is a different taste to a partridge anda well-fatted turkey; though, to my eating, beavers tail and bearsham make the best of food. But then every one has his own appetite.I gave the last farthing, all to that shilling, to the French trader,this very morning, as I came through the town, for powder; so, as youhave nothing, we can have but one shot for it. I know that BillyKirby is out, and means to have a pull of the trigger at that veryturkey. John has a true eye for a single fire, and, some how, my handshakes so whenever I have to do anything extrawnary, that I often losemy 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 ashot, and loaded while I dodged the trees in the bargain; but this isa very different thing, Mr. Oliver."

　　"This," cried the young man, with an accent that sounded as if he tooka bitter pleasure in his poverty, while he held a shilling up beforehis 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 soledependence on the chase. Come, Natty, let us stake the last penny forthe bird; with your aim, it cannot fail to be successful."

　　"I would rather it should be John, lad; my heart jumps into my mouth,because you set your mind so much out; and Im sartain that I shallmiss the bird. Them Indians can shoot one time as well as another;nothing ever troubles them. I say, John, heres a shilling; take myrifle, and get a shot at the big turkey theyve put up at the stump.Mr. Oliver is over-anxious for the creatur, and Im sure to donothing when I have over-anxiety about it."

　　The Indian turned his head gloomily, and after looking keenly for amoment, in profound silence, at his companions, he replied:

　　"When John was young, eyesight was not straighter than his bullet.The Mingo squaws cried out at the sound of his rifle. The Mingowarriors were made squaws. When did he ever shoot twice? The eaglewent above the clouds when he passed the wigwam of Chingachgook; hisfeathers were plenty with the women. But see," he said, raising hisvoice from the low, mournful tones in which he had spoken to a pitchof keen excitement, and stretching forth both hands, "they shake likea deer at the wolfs howl. Is John old? When was a Mohican a squawwith seventy winters? No! the white man brings old age with him--rum ishis tomahawk!"

　　"Why, then, do you use it, old man?" exclaimed the young hunter; "whywill one, so noble by nature, aid the devices of the devil by makinghimself a beast?"

　　"Beast! is John a beast?" replied the Indian slowly; "yes; you say nolie, child of the Fire-eater! John is a beast. The smokes were oncefew in these hills, The deer would lick the hand of a white man andthe birds rest on his head. They were strangers to him. My fatherscame from the shores of the salt lake. They fled before rum. Theycame to their grandfather, and they lived in peace; or, when they didraise the hatchet, it was to strike it into the brain of a Mingo.They gathered around the council fire, and what they said was done.Then John was a man. But warriors and traders with light eyesfollowed them. One brought the long knife and one brought rum. Theywere more than the pines on the mountains; and they broke up thecouncils and took the lands, The evil spirit was in their jugs, andthey let him loose. Yes yes--you say no lie, Young Eagle; John is aChristian beast."

　　"Forgive me, old warrior," cried the youth, grasping his hand; "Ishould be the last to reproach you. The curses of Heaven light on thecupidity that has destroyed such a race. Remember, John, that I am ofyour family, and it is now my greatest pride."

　　The muscles of Mohegan relaxed a little, and he said, more mildly:

　　"You are a Delaware, my son; your words are not heard--John cannotshoot."

　　"I thought that lad had Indian blood in him," whispered Richard, "bythe awkward way he handled my horses last night. You see, coz, theynever use harness. But the poor fellow shall have two shots at theturkey, if he wants it, for Ill give him another shilling myself;though, per haps, I had better offer to shoot for him. They have gotup their Christmas sports, I find, in the bushes yonder, where youhear the laughter--though it is a queer taste this chap has for turkey;not but what it is good eating, too,"

　　"Hold, Cousin Richard," exclaimed Elizabeth, clinging to his arm;"would it be delicate to offer a shilling to that gentleman?"

　　"Gentleman, again! Do you think a half-breed, like him, will refusemoney? No, no, girl, he will take the shilling; ay! and even rum too,notwithstanding he moralizes so much about it, But Ill give the lad achance for his turkey; for that Billy Kirby is one of the bestmarksmen 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 thatsurrounded the trio of hunters. Her appearance startled the youth,who at first made an unequivocal motion toward retiring, but,recollecting himself, bowed, by lifting his cap, and resumed hisattitude of leaning on his rifle. Neither Natty nor Mohegan betrayedany emotion, though the appearance of Elizabeth was so entirelyunexpected.

　　"I find," she said, "that the old Christmas sport of shooting theturkey is yet in use among you. I feel inclined to try my chance fora bird. Which of you will take this money, and, after paying my fee,give me the aid of his rifle?"

　　"Is this a sport for a lady?" exclaimed the young hunter, with anemphasis that could not well be mistaken, and with a rapidity thatshowed he spoke without consulting anything but feeling."Why not, sir? If it be inhuman the sin is not confined to one sexonly. But I have my humor as well as others. I ask not yourassistance, but"--turning to Natty, and dropping a dollar in his hand--"this old veteran of the forest will not be so ungallant as to refuseone fire for a lady."

　　Leather-Stocking dropped the money into his pouch, and throwing up theend of his rifle he freshened his priming; and first laughing in hisusual manner, he threw the piece over his shoulder, and said:

　　"If Billy Kirby dont get the bird before me, and the Frenchmanspowder dont hang fire this damp morning, youll see as fine a turkeydead, in a few minutes, as ever was eaten in the Judges shanty. Ihave knowed the Dutch women, on the Mohawk and Schoharie, countgreatly on coming to the merry-makings; and so, lad, you shouldnt beshort with the lady. Come, let us go forward, for if we wait thefinest bird will be gone."

　　"But I have a right before you, Natty, and shall try on my own luckfirst. You will excuse me, Miss Temple; I have much reason to wishthat bird, and may seem ungallant, but I must claim my privileges."

　　"Claim anything that is justly your own, sir," returned the lady; "weare both adventurers; and this is my knight. I trust my fortune tohis hand and eye. Lead on, Sir Leather-Stocking, and we will follow."

　　Natty, who seemed pleased with the frank address of the young andbeauteous Elizabeth, who had so singularly intrusted him with such acommission, returned the bright smile with which she had addressedhim, by his own peculiar mark of mirth, and moved across the snowtoward the spot whence the sounds of boisterous mirth proceeded, withthe long strides of a hunter. His companions followed in silence, theyouth casting frequent and uneasy glances toward Elizabeth, who wasdetained by a motion from Richard.

　　"I should think, Miss Temple," he said, so soon as the others were outof hearing, "that if you really wished a turkey, you would not havetaken 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, atthis moment, shut up in the coops, in every stage of fat, so that youmight choose any quality you pleased. There are six that I am tryingan experiment on, by giving them brick-bats with--"

　　"Enough, Cousin Dickon," interrupted the lady; "I do wish the bird,and it is because I so wish that I commissioned this Mr. Leather-Stocking."

　　"Did you ever hear of the great shot that I made at the wolf, CousinElizabeth, who was carrying off your father's sheep?" said Richard,drawing himself up with an air of displeasure. "He had the sheep onhis hack; and, had the head of the wolf been on the other side, Ishould have killed him dead; as it was--"

　　"You killed the sheep--I know it all, dear coz. Hut would it have beendecorous for the High Sheriff of --to mingle in such sports as these?""Surely you did not think that I intended actually to fire with my ownhands?" said Mr. Jones. "But let us follow, and see the shooting.There is no fear of anything unpleasant occurring to a female in thisnew country, especially to your fathers daughter, and in mypresence."

　　"My fathers daughter fears nothing, sir, more especially whenescorted by the highest executive officer in the county."

　　She took his arm, and he led her through the mazes of the bushes tothe spot where most of the young men of the village were collected forthe sports of shooting a Christmas match, and whither Natty and hisCompanions had already preceded them.