The Deerslayer

ng from the la

unter's h

flowers, for the

thou canst

th. A Tale of the

urse, but it was no longer obstructed by underbrush, and the footing was firm and dry. After proceeding near a mile, March stopped, and began to cast about him with an inquiring look, examining the different objects with care, and

de of a hemlock, with three pines at hand, and yonder is a white birch with a broken top;

also lead to suspicion and discoveries. The Delawares never trust to broken branches, unless it is in friendly times, and on an open trail. As for the

u never calculate on position.

others; and yonder are others, for neither tree is a rarity in these woods. I fear me, Hurry, you are better at trapping

hang me if I see anything but these trees, which do seem to st

of the bass-wood, near it? Now, that sapling was once snow-ridden, and got the bend by its weight; but it never straightened it

ike an unfortunate creatur' borne down by misfortune, and stuck it up where you see it. Afte

r when he was in his prime, Tamenund lets nothing escape his look, which is more like the scent of a hound than the sight of an eye. Then Uncas, the father of Chingachgook

yer!" asked Hurry, as he moved off in the direction of the right

just-minded Delaware; respected, and even obeyed in some things, 'tis true, but of a fallen race, and belonging to a fallen people. Ah! Harry March, 'twou

h them, "if a man believed all that other people choose to say in their own favor, he might get an oversized opinion of them, and an

companion the trunk of a huge linden, or bass-wood, as it is termed in the language of the country, which had filled its time, and fallen by its own weight. This tree, like so many millions of its brethren, lay where it had fallen, and was mouldering under the slow but certain influence of the seasons. The decay, however, had attacked its centre, even while it stood erect in t

the linden; "everything is as snug as if it had been left in an old woman's cu

the other declared to be disposed in a way that would have been more likely to attract attention than to conceal the cover, had any straggler passed that way. The two then drew out a bark canoe, containing its seats, paddles, and other appliances, even to fishing-lines and rods.

March, "and open the bushes;

to the right or to the left, as the latter directed. In about ten minutes they both broke suddenly into th

t it resembled a bed of the pure mountain atmosphere, compressed into a setting of hills and woods. Its length was about three leagues, while its breadth was irregular, expanding to half a league, or even more, opposite to the point, and contracting to less than half that distance, more to the southward. Of course, its margin was irregular, being indented by bays, and broken by many projecting, low points. At its northern, or nearest end, it wa

th, from the rounded mountain-top to the water's edge, presenting one unvaried hue of unbroken verdure. As if vegetation were not satisfied with a triumph so complete, the trees overhung the lake itself, shooting out towards the light; and there were miles along its eastern shore, where a boat might have pulled beneath the branches of dark Rembrandt-lookin

nd beneath, in whichever direction his eye could wander; "not a tree disturbed even by red-skin hand, as I can discover, but everything left in the ordering of the Lord, to live and die a

e custom, afore I know'd him, of going to spend the winters in the neighborhood of the settlers, or under the guns of the

But what is this I see off here, abreast of us, that seems too small for an

s own natur' and character. 'Tis the stationary house, there being two; this, which never moves, and the other, that floats, being sometimes in one pa

d that Noah, with his children, was saved from drowning by building a vessel called an ark, in which he embarked in season. Some of the Delawares bel

bays. But the canoe is ready, and fifteen minutes will

layer placed himself forward, and by leisurely but steady strokes of the paddles, the canoe glided across the placid sheet, towards the extraordinary-looking structure that the former had styled Muskrat Castle. Several times the men ceased paddling, and looked about them at the scene, as new glimpses opened from

"the lake seems made to let us get an insight into the noble forests; and land and water alike stand in the beauty

that his claim will never trouble old Tom Hutter, who has got possession, and is like to kee

onsorting any plan to put myself in his moccasins, for such a thought doesn't harbor in my mind; but I can't help a litt

would be even handsome; and then her wits are so small that you may easily convart her into one of your own way of thinking, in all things. Do you

nded the other, who paid but litt

quent. I ought not to be so much here myself, but Jude pulls one way, while the beaver pulls another. More than a hundred Spani

ke, Hurry?" continued Deerslayer,

of the Hutter tribe. The old man tells me that some sharp ones have been wheedling the Mohawks for an Indian deed, in order to get a title out of the colony; but no

ccasion for the timber, should be banished to a desarted and forlorn region, in which no fourfooted animal ever trod. Right gla

Now, farther north and farther west these bits of water abound; and you're young, and may yet

ds of the "castle," as Hurry familiarly called the house of Hutter, when they again ceased paddling; the admirer of Judith restraining his impatience the more readily, as he perceived that

ear, if not quite, a mile from its eastern shore. As there was not the smallest appearance of any island, but the house stood on piles, with the water flowing beneath it, and Deerslayer had already discovered that the lake was of a great depth, he was fain to ask an explanation of this singular circumstance. Hurry s

water for safety. No one can attack him here, without coming in a boat, and the plunder and scalps would scarce be worth the trouble of digging out canoes. Then it's by no mea

rded a protection much greater than was usual to the ordinary log-cabins of the frontier. The sides and ends were composed of the trunks of large pines, cut about nine feet long, and placed upright, instead of being laid horizontally, as was the practice of the country. These logs were squared on three sides, and had large tenons on each end. Massive sills were secured on the heads of the piles, with suitable grooves dug out of their upper surfaces, which had been squared for

es and door as uniform an appearance as was desired, either for use or show. The chimney was not the least singular portion of the castle, as Hurry made his companion observe, while he explained the process by which it had been made. The material was a stiff clay, properly worked, which had been put together in a mould of sticks, and suffered to harden, a foot or two at a time, commencing at the bottom. When the entire chimney had thus been raised, and had been properly bound in

atened more than once to give out altogether; but perseverance will even overcome smoke; and now he has a comfo

and sides," said Deerslayer, smiling; "is love so overcoming that

them uprights with my own shoulders, and the axes flew, I can inform you, Master Natty, while we were bee-ing it among the trees ashore. The old devil is no way stingy about food, and as we had often eat at his hearth, we thought we would

le," and was now so close as to require but a single stroke of a paddle to reach the landing. This

it: "and the gallants from the forts have named it the castle court though what a 'court' can have to do here is more than I can t

eral small sleeping-rooms; the apartment into which he first entered, serving equally for the ordinary uses of its inmates, and for a kitchen. The furniture was of the strange mixture that it is not uncommon to find in the remotely situated log-tenements of the interior. Most of it was rude, and to the last degree rustic; but there was a clock, with a handsome case of dark wood, in a corner, and two or three chairs, with a table and bureau, that had evidentl

overflowing; but it lay in a rude bunk, raised only a foot from the door. On one side of it were arranged, on pegs, various dresses, of a quality much superior to what one would expect to meet in such a place, with ribbons and other similar articles to correspond. Pretty shoes, with handsome silver buckles, such as were then worn by females in easy circumstances, were not wanting; and no less than six fans, of gay colors, were placed half open, in a way to c

e different sides of the bed, the head of which stood against the wall. On that opposite to the one just described, everything was homely and uninviting, except through its perfect neatness. The few garments that were hanging from the p

een a stranger. He bethought him of his mother, whose homely vestments he remembered to have seen hanging on pegs like those which he felt must belong to Hetty Hutter; and he bethought himself of a sister, whose incipient and native taste for finery had exhibited itself somewha

mor, and you're disposed to remain in these parts, we can make an oncommon comfortable season of it; for, while the old man and I out-knowledge the beaver, you can fish, an

r, but it's not so much because I'm pretty fatal with the venison as because that while I kill so many bucks and does, I've never yet taken the lif

icken-hearted, lad! A faint-heart

t me as out-of-the-way brave. But I'm not quarrelsome; and that goes a great way towards keeping blood off

gh I'm as onquarrelsome a man, too, as there is in all the colonies. I despise a quarreller as I d

nearest the right, Hurry. But this is a gloriou

over us all at such times. Lakes have a gentle character, as

in the mind of the young hunter, he made no immediate answer, but st

ruck with a new idea. "If they've not begun to blaze their trees, and set up their compasses,

of the Mohawk tongue. I didn't open the trap any wider than was necessary, giving him but poor encouragement in the way of farms and clearings. In short, I left on his mind some such opinion of this country, as a man gets of a spring of dirty water, with a path to it that is so muddy that one mires afore he sets out. He told me they hadn't got t

ey had not science enough to make any better themselves, they had sufficient local information to detect the gross blunders contained in those that existed. Any one who will take the trouble to compare these unanswerable evidences of the topographical skill of our fathers a century since, with the more accurate sketches of our own

ays foretell waste and destruction. No doubt, howsoever, the red-skins have their modes of knowing it, and

t as they treat all others. Among ourselves, we've got to calling the place the 'Glimmerglass,' seeing that its whole

ets, and the rock at which I am to meet Chingachgook

r own keeping: they've given it a name which has found its way up to its source; names nat'rally w

unted along its ban

sound. I am glad they've been compelled to keep the redmen's na

ole of its eastern boundary, the points thrusting forward their trees even to nearly horizontal lines, while the bays were seen glittering through an occasional arch beneath, left by a vault fretted with branches and leaves. It was the air of deep repose-the solitudes, that spoke of scenes and forests untouched by the hands of man-the reign of nature, in a word, that gave so much pure delight to one of his habits and turn of mind. Still, he felt, though it wa