Chapter XXVIII.

by James Fenimore Cooper

　　"Ask me not what the maiden feels, Left in that dreadful hour alone:Perchance, her reason stoops, or reel!;Perchance, a courage not her ownBraces her mind to desperate tone."--Scott.

　　While the chase was occurring on the lake, Miss Temple and hercompanion pursued their walk on the mountain. Male attendants on suchexcursions were thought to be altogether unnecessary, for none wereeven known to offer insult to a female who respected herself. Afterthe embarrassment created by the parting discourse with Edwards haddissipated, the girls maintained a conversation that was as innocentand cheerful as themselves.

　　The path they took led them but a short distance above the hut ofLeather-Stocking, and there was a point in the road which commanded abirds-eye view of the sequestered spot.

　　From a feeling that might have been, natural, and must have beenpowerful, neither of the friends, in their frequent and confidentialdialogues, had ever trusted herself to utter one syllable concerningthe equivocal situation in which the young man who was now sointimately associated with them had been found. If judge Temple haddeemed it prudent to make any inquiries on the subject, he had alsothought it proper to keep the answers to him self; though it was socommon an occurrence to find the well-educated youth of the EasternStates in every stage of their career to wealth, that the simplecircumstance of his intelligence, connected with his poverty, wouldnot, at that day and in that country, have excited any very powerfulcuriosity. With his breeding, it might have been different; but theyouth himself had so effectually guarded against surprise on thissubject, by his cold and even, in some cases, rude deportment, thatwhen his manners seemed to soften by time, the Judge, if he thoughtabout it at all, would have been most likely to imagine that theimprovement was the result of his late association. But women arealways more alive to such subjects than men; and what the abstractionof the father had overlooked, the observation of the daughter hadeasily detected. In the thousand little courtesies of polished lifeshe had early discovered that Edwards was not wanting, though hisgentleness was so often crossed by marks of what she conceived to befierce and uncontrollable passions. It may, perhaps, be unnecessaryto tell the reader that Louisa Grant never reasoned so much after thefashions of the world. The gentle girl, however, had her own thoughtson the subject, and, like others, she drew her own conclusions.

　　"I would give all my other secrets, Louisa," exclaimed Miss Temple,laughing, and shaking back her dark locks, with a look of childishsimplicity that her intelligent face seldom expressed, "to be mistressof all that those rude logs have heard and witnessed."

　　They were both looking at the secluded hut at the instant, and MissGrant raised her mild eyes as she answered:

　　"I 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 allvery rationally explained by your cousin--"

　　"The executive chief! he can explain anything. His ingenuity will oneday discover the philosophers stone. But what did he say?"

　　"Say!" echoed Louisa, with a look of surprise; "why, everything thatseemed to me to be satisfactory, and I now believed it to be true. Hesaid that Natty Bumppo had lived most of his life in the woods andamong the Indians, by which means he had formed an acquaintance withold John, the Delaware chief."

　　"Indeed! that was quite a matter-of-fact tale for Cousin Dickon. Whatcame next?"

　　"I believe he accounted for their close intimacy by some story aboutthe Leather-Stocking saving the life of John in a battle."

　　"Nothing more likely," said Elizabeth, a little impatiently; "but whatis all this to the purpose?"

　　"Nay, Elizabeth, you must bear with my ignorance, and I will repeatall that I remember to have overheard for the dialogue was between myfather and the sheriff, so lately as the last time they met, He thenadded that the kings of England used to keep gentlemen as agents amongthe 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?"

　　"Oh! no--then he said that these agents seldom married; and--and--theymust have been wicked men, Elizabeth! but I assure you he said so."

　　"Never mind," said Miss Temple, blushing and smiling, though soslightly that both were unheeded by her companion; "skip all that."

　　"Well, then, he said that they often took great pride in the educationof their children, whom they frequently sent to England, and even tothe colleges; and this is the way that he accounts for the liberalmanner in which Mr. Edwards has been taught; for he acknowledges thathe knows almost as much as your father--or mine--or even himself."

　　"Quite a climax in learning. And so he made Mohegan the granduncleor grandfather 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 thereason why that hut is the only habitation within fifty miles of uswhose door is not open to every person who may choose to lift itslatch?"

　　"I have never heard him say anything on this subject," returned theclergymans daughter; "but I suppose that, as they are poor, they verynaturally are anxious to keep the little that they honestly own. Itis sometimes dangerous to be rich, Miss Temple; but you cannot knowhow hard it is to be very, very poor."

　　"Nor you, I trust, Louisa; at least I should hope that, in this landof abundance, no minister of the church could be left in absolutesuffering."

　　"There cannot be actual misery," returned the other, in a low andhumble tone, "where there is a dependence on our Maker; but there maybe such suffering as will cause the heart to ache."

　　"But not you--not you," said the impetuous Elizabeth-- "not you, deargirl, you have never known the misery that is connected with poverty."

　　"Ah! Miss Temple, you little understand the troubles of this life, Ibelieve. My father has spent many years as a missionary in the newcountries, where his people were poor, and frequently we have beenwithout bread; unable to buy, and ashamed to beg, because we would notdisgrace his sacred calling. But how often have I seen him leave hishome, where the sick and the hungry felt, when he left them, that theyhad lost their only earthly friend, to ride on a duty which could notbe neglected for domes tic evils! Oh! how hard it must be to preachconsolation to others when your own heart is bursting with anguish!"

　　"But it is all over now! your fathers income must now be equal to hiswants--it must be--it shall be--"

　　"It is," replied Louisa, dropping her head on her bosom to conceal thetears which flowed in spite of her gentle Christianity--" for there arenone left to be supplied but me."

　　The turn the conversation had taken drove from the minds of the youngmaidens all other thoughts but those of holy charity; and Elizabethfolded her friend in her arms, when the latter gave vent to hermomentary grief in audible sobs. When this burst of emotion hadsubsided, Louisa raised her mild countenance, and they continued theirwalk in silence.

　　By this time they had gained the summit of the mountain, where theyleft the highway, and pursued their course under the shade of thestately trees that crowned the eminence. The day was becoming warm,and the girls plunged more deeply into the forest, as they found itsinvigorating coolness agreeably contrasted to the excessive heat theyhad experienced in the ascent. The conversation, as if by mutualconsent, was entirely changed to the little incidents and scenes oftheir walk, and every tall pine, and every shrub or flower, calledforth some simple expression of admiration.

　　In this manner they proceeded along the margin of the precipice,catching occasional glimpses of the placid Otsego, or pausing tolisten to the rattling of wheels and the sounds of hammers that rosefrom 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 aclearing near us, or can some little one have strayed from itsparents?"

　　"Such things frequently happen," returned Louisa. Let us follow thesounds; it may be a wanderer starving on the hill."

　　Urged by this consideration, the females pursued the low, mournfulsounds, that proceeded from the forest, with quick and impatientsteps. More than once, the ardent Elizabeth was on the point ofannouncing that she saw the sufferer, when Louisa caught her by thearm, and pointing behind them, cried:

　　"Look at the dog!"

　　Brave had been their companion, from the time the voice of his youngmistress lured him from his kennel, to the present moment. Hisadvanced age had long before deprived him of his activity; and whenhis companions stopped to view the scenery, or to add to theirbouquets, the mastiff would lay his huge frame on the ground and awaittheir movements, with his eyes closed, and a listlessness in his airthat ill accorded with the character of a protector. But when,aroused by this cry from Louisa, Miss Temple turned, she saw the dogwith his eyes keenly set on some distant object, his head bent nearthe ground, and his hair actually rising on his body, through frightor anger. It was most probably the latter, for he was growling in alow key, and occasionally showing his teeth, in a manner that wouldhave terrified his mistress, had she not so well known his goodqualities.

　　"Brave!" she said, "be quiet, Brave! What do you see, fellow?"

　　At the sounds of her voice, the rage of the mastiff, instead of beingat all diminished, was very sensibly increased. He stalked in frontof the ladies, and seated himself at the feet of his mistress,growling louder than before, and occasionally giving vent to his ireby a short, surly barking.

　　"What does he see?" said Elizabeth; "there must be some animal insight."

　　Hearing no answer from her companion, Miss Temple turned her head andbeheld Louisa, standing with her face whitened to the color of death,and her finger pointing upward with a sort of flickering, convulsedmotion. The quick eye of Elizabeth glanced in the direction indicatedby her friend, where she saw the fierce front and glaring eyes of afemale panther, fixed on them in horrid malignity, and threatening toleap.

　　"Let us fly," exclaimed Elizabeth, grasping the arm of Louisa, whoseform yielded like melting snow.

　　There was not a single feeling in the temperament of Elizabeth Templethat could prompt her to desert a companion in such an extremity. Shefell on her knees by the side of the inanimate Louisa, tearing fromthe person of her friend, with instinctive readiness, such parts ofher dress as might obstruct her respiration, and encouraging theironly safeguard, the dog, at the same time, by the sounds of her voice.

　　"Courage, Brave!" she cried, her own tones beginning to tremble,"courage, courage, good Brave!"

　　A quarter-grown cub, that had hitherto been unseen, now appeared,dropping from the branches of a sapling that grew under the shade ofthe beech which held its dam. This ignorant but vicious creatureapproached the dog, imitating the actions and sounds of its parent,but exhibiting a strange mixture of the playfulness of a kitten withthe ferocity of its race. Standing on its hind-legs, it would rendthe 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 scratchingthe earth, it would at tempt the manifestations of anger that renderedits 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 themovements of both dam and cub. At every gambol played by the latter,it approached nigher to the dog, the growling of the three becomingmore horrid at each moment, until the younger beast, over-leaping itsintended bound, fell directly before the mastiff. There was a momentof fearful cries and struggles, but they ended almost as soon ascommenced, by the cub appearing in the air, hurled from the jaws ofBrave, with a violence that sent it against a tree so forcibly as torender it completely senseless. Elizabeth witnessed the shortstruggle, and her blood was warming with the triumph of the dog, whenshe saw the form of the old panther in the air, springing twenty feetfrom the branch of the beech to the back of the mastiff. No words ofours can describe the fury of the conflict that followed. It was aconfused struggle on the dry leaves, accompanied by loud and terrificcries. Miss Temple continued on her knees, bending over the form ofLouisa, her eyes fixed on the animals with an interest so horrid, andyet 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 dognobly faced his foe at each successive leap. When the panther lightedon the shoulders of the mastiff, which was its constant aim, oldBrave, though torn with her talons, and stained with his own blood,that already flowed from a dozen wounds, would shake off his furiousfoe like a feather, and, rearing on his hind-legs, rush to the frayagain, with jaws distended, and a dauntless eye. But age, and hispampered life, greatly disqualified the noble mastiff for such astruggle. In everything but courage. he was only the vestige of whathe had once been. A higher bound than ever raised the wary andfurious beast far beyond the reach of the dog, who was making adesperate but fruitless dash at her, from which she alighted in afavorable position, on the back of her aged foe. For a single momentonly could the panther remain there, the great strength of the dogreturning with a convulsive effort. But Elizabeth saw, as Bravefastened his teeth in the side of his enemy, that the collar of brassaround his neck, which had been glittering throughout the fray, was ofthe color of blood, and directly that his frame was sinking to theearth, where it soon lay prostrate and helpless. Several mightyefforts of the wild-cat to extricate herself from the jaws of the dogfollowed, but they were fruitless, until the mastiff turned on hisback, his lips collapsed, and his teeth loosened, when the shortconvulsions and stillness that succeeded announced the death of poorBrave.

　　Elizabeth now lay wholly at the mercy of the beast. There is said tobe something in the front of the image of the Maker that daunts thehearts of the inferior beings of his creation; and it would seem thatsome such power, in the present instance, suspended the threatenedblow. The eyes of the monster and the kneeling maiden met for aninstant, when the former stooped to examine her fallen foe; next, toscent her luckless cub. From the latter examination it turned,however, with its eyes apparently emitting flashes of fire, its taillashing its sides furiously, and its claws projecting inches from herbroad feet.

　　Miss Temple did not or could not move. Her hands were clasped in theattitude of prayer, but her eyes were still drawn to her terribleenemy--her cheeks were blanched to the whiteness of marble, and herlips were slightly separated with horror.

　　The moment seemed now to have arrived for the fatal termination, andthe beautiful figure of Elizabeth was bowing meekly to the stroke,when a rustling of leaves behind seemed rather to mock the organs thanto meet her ears.

　　"Hist! hist!" said a low voice, "stoop lower, gal; your bonnet hidesthe creaturs head."

　　It was rather the yielding of nature than a compliance with thisunexpected order, that caused the head of our heroine to sink on herbosom; when she heard the report of the rifle, the whizzing of thebullet, and the enraged cries of the beast, who was rolling over onthe earth, biting its own flesh, and tearing the twigs and brancheswithin 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 animal, and mayjump agin."

　　Natty fearlessly maintained his position in front of the females,notwithstanding the violent bounds and threatening aspect of thewounded panther, which gave several indications of returning strengthand ferocity, until his rifle was again loaded, when he stepped up tothe enraged animal, and, placing the muzzle close to its head, everyspark of life was extinguished by the discharge.

　　The death of her terrible enemy appeared to Elizabeth like aresurrection from her own grave. There was an elasticity in the mindof our heroine that rose to meet the pressure of instant danger, andthe more direct it had been, the more her nature had struggled toovercome them. But still she was a woman. Had she been left toherself in her late extremity, she would probably have used herfaculties to the utmost, and with discretion, in protecting herperson; but, encumbered with her inanimate friend, retreat was a thingnot to be attempted. Notwithstanding the fearful aspect of her foe,the eye of Elizabeth had never shrunk from its gaze, and long afterthe event her thoughts would recur to her passing sensations, and thesweetness of her midnight sleep would be disturbed, as her activefancy conjured, in dreams, the most trifling movements of savage furythat the beast had exhibited in its moment of power.

　　We shall leave the reader to imagine the restoration of Louisassenses, and the expressions of gratitude which fell from the youngwomen. The former was effected by a little water, that was broughtfrom one of the thousand springs of those mountains, in the cap of theLeather-Stocking; and the latter were uttered with the warmth thatmight be expected from the character of Elizabeth. Natty received hervehement protestations of gratitude with a simple expression of good-will, and with indulgence for her present excitement, but with acarelessness that showed how little he thought of the service he hadrendered.

　　"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 intothe road, for youve had terror enough to make you wish yourself inyour fathers house agin."

　　This was uttered as they were proceeding, at a pace that was adaptedto the weakness of Louisa, toward the highway; on reaching which theladies separated from their guide, declaring themselves equal to theremainder of the walk without his assistance, and feeling encouragedby the sight of the village which lay beneath their feet like apicture, with its limpid lake in front, the winding stream along itsmargin, and its hundred chimneys of whitened bricks.

　　The reader need not be told the nature of the emotions which twoyouthful, ingenuous, and well-educated girls would experience at theirescape 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 ofthe mountain; nor how deep were their mental thanks to that Powerwhich had given them their existence, and which had not deserted themin their extremity; neither how often they pressed each others armsas the assurance of their present safety came, like a healing balm,athwart their troubled spirits, when their thoughts were recurring tothe recent moments of horror.

　　Leather-Stocking remained on the hill, gazing after their retiringfigures, until they were hidden by a bend in the road, when hewhistled in his dogs, and shouldering his rifle, he returned into theforest.

　　"Well, it was a skeary thing to the young creaturs," said Natty,while he retrod the path toward the plain. "It might frighten anolder woman, to see a she-painter so near her, with a dead cub by itsside. I wonder if I had aimed at the varmints eye, if I shouldnthave touched the life sooner than in the forehead; but they are hard-lived animals, and it was a good shot, considring that I could seenothing 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 therifle, that was already lowered in his direction. "What! shootingthis warm day! Mind, old man, the law dont 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 dowith the ways of the law?"

　　"Not much, maybe," said Hiram; "but you sometimes trade in venison. Ispose you know, Leather-Stocking, that there is an act passed to laya fine of five pounds currency, or twelve dollars and fifty cents, bydecimals, on every man who kills a deer betwixt January and August.The Judge had a great hand in getting the law through."

　　"I can believe it," returned the old hunter; " I can believe that oranything 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 itin force--five pounds penalty. I thought I heard your hounds out onthe scent of sothing this morning; I didnt know but they might getyou in difficulty."

　　"They know their manners too well," said Natty carelessly. "And howmuch goes to the States evidence, squire?"

　　"How much?" repeated Hiram, quailing under the honest but sharp lookof the hunter; "the informer gets half, I--I believe--yes, I guess itshalf. But theres blood on your sleeve, man--you havent been shootinganything this morning?"

　　"I have, though," said the hunter, nodding his head significantly tothe other, "and a good shot I made of it."

　　"H-e-m!" ejacuated the magistrate; "and where is the game? I sposeits of a good natur, for your dogs wont hunt anything that isntchoice."

　　"Theyll hunt anything I tell them to, squire," cried Natty, favoringthe other with his laugh. "Theyll hunt you, if I say so. He-e-e-re,he-e-e-re, Hector--he-e-e-re, slut--come this a-way, pups--come this a-way---come hither."

　　"Oh! I have always heard a good character of the dogs," returned Mr.Doolittle, quickening his pace by raising each leg in rapidsuccession, as the hounds scented around his person. "And where isthe game, Leather-Stocking?"

　　During this dialogue, the speakers had been walking at a very fastgait, and Natty swung the end of his rifle round, pointing through thebushes, and replied: "There lies one. How do you like such meat?"

　　"This!" exclaimed Hiram; "why, this is Judge Temples dog Brave. Takecare, Leather-Stocking, and dont make an enemy of the Judge. I hopeyou havent harmed the animal?"

　　"Look for yourself, Mr. Doolittle," said Natty, drawing his knife fromhis girdle, and wiping it in a knowing manner, once or twice acrosshis garment of buckskin; "does his throat look as if I had cut it withthis knife?"

　　"It is dreadfully torn! its an awful wound--no knife ever did thisdeed. Who could have done it?"

　　"The painters behind you, squire."

　　"Painters!" echoed Hiram, whirling on his heel with an agility thatwould have done credit to a dancing master.

　　"Be easy, man," said Natty; "theres two of the venomous things; butthe dog finished one, and I have fastened the others jaws for her; sodont be frightened, squire; they wont hurt you."

　　"And wheres the deer?" cried Hiram, staring about him with abewildered air.

　　"Anan? deer!" repeated Natty."Sartain; ant there venison here, or didnt you kill a buck?"

　　"What! when the law forbids the thing, squire!" said the old hunter,"I hope theres no law agin killing the painters."

　　"No! theres a bounty on the scalps--but--will your dogs hunt painters,Natty?"

　　"Anything; didnt I tell you they would hunt a man? He-e-re, he-e-re,pups--"

　　"Yes, yes, I remember. Well, they are strange dogs, I must say--I amquite in a wonderment."

　　Natty had seated himself on the ground, and having laid the grim headof his late ferocious enemy in his lap, was drawing his knife with apracticed hand around the ears, which he tore from the head of thebeast in such a manner as to preserve their connection, when heanswered;

　　"What at, squire? did you never see a painters scalp afore? Come, youare a magistrate, I wish youd make me out an order for the bounty."

　　"The bounty!" repeated Hiram, holding the ears on the end of hisfinger for a moment, as if uncertain how to proceed. "Well, let us godown to your hut, where you can take the oath, and I will write outthe order, I sup pose you have a Bible? All the law wants is the fourevangelists and the Lords prayer."

　　"I keep no books," said Natty, a little coldly; "not such a Bible asthe law needs."

　　"Oh! theres but one sort of Bible thats good in law," returned themagistrate, "and yourn will do as well as anothers. Come, thecarcasses are worth nothing, man; let us go down and take the oath."

　　"Softly, softly, squire," said the hunter, lifting his trophies verydeliberately from the ground, and shouldering his rifle; "why do youwant an oath at all, for a thing that your own eyes has seen? Wontyou believe yourself, that another man must swear to a fact that youknow to be true? You have seen me scalp the creaturs, and if I mustswear 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 thehut for them, or how can I write the order?"

　　Natty turned his simple features on the cunning magistrate withanother of his laughs, as he said:

　　"And what should I be doing with scholars tools? I want no pens orpaper, not knowing the use of either; and I keep none. No, no, Illbring the scalps into the village, squire, and you can make out theorder on one of your law-books, and it will he all the better for it.The deuce take this leather on the neck of the dog, it will stranglethe old fool. Can you lend me a knife, squire?"

　　Hiram, who seemed particularly anxious to be on good terms with hiscompanion, unhesitatingly complied. Natty cut the thong from the neckof the hound, and, as he returned the knife to its owner, carelesslyremarked:

　　"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?" exclaimedHiram, with a consciousness that disarmed his caution.

　　"Loose!" repeated the hunter--" I let them loose my self. I always letthem loose before I leave the hut."

　　The ungovernable amazement with which Mr. Doolittle listened to thisfalsehood would have betrayed his agency in the liberation of thedogs, had Natty wanted any further confirmation; and the coolness andmanagement of the old man now disappeared in open indignation.

　　"Look you here, Mr. Doolittle," he said, striking the breech of hisrifle violently on the ground; " what there is in the wigwam of a poorman like me, that one like you can crave, I dont know; but this Itell you to your face, that you never shall put foot under the roof ofmy cabin with my consent, and that, if you harbor round the spot asyou have done lately, you may meet with treatment that you will littlerelish."

　　"And let me tell you, Mr. Bumppo," said Hiram, retreating, however,with a quick step, "that I know youve broke the law, and that Im amagistrate, and will make you feel it too, before you are a dayolder."

　　"That for you and your law, too," cried Natty, snap ping his fingersat the justice of the peace; "away with you, you varmint, before thedevil tempts me to give you your desarts. Take care, if I ever catchyour prowling face in the woods agin, that I dont shoot it for anowl."

　　There is something at all times commanding in honest indignation, andHiram did not stay to provoke the wrath of the old hunter toextremities. When the intruder was out of sight, Natty proceeded tothe hut, where he found all quiet as the grave. He fastened his dogs,and tapping at the door, which was opened by Edwards, asked;

　　"Is all safe, lad?"

　　"Everything," returned the youth. "Some one attempted the lock, butit was too strong for him."

　　"I know the creatur," said Natty, "but hell not trust himself withinthe reach of my rifle very soon----" What more was uttered by theLeather-Stocking, in his vexation, was rendered inaudible by theclosing of the door of the cabin.