James Fenimore Cooper The Deerslayer Or The First Warpath, Volume 2

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care for any relations but you, and don t think I could love them I never saw,
as well as I ought. If you don t like to marry Hurry, I don t see who you can
choose for a husband, and then I fear we shall have to quit the lake, after
all.
What do you think of Deerslayer, Hetty? asked Judith, bending forward like
her unsophisticated sister, and endeavouring to conceal her embarrassment in a
similar manner. Would he not make a brother-in-law to your liking?
Deerslayer! repeated the other, looking up in unfeigned surprise; why,
Judith, Deerslayer isn t in the least comely, and is altogether unfit for one
like you!
He is not ill-looking, Hetty; and beauty in a man is not of much matter.
Do you think so, Judith? I know that beauty is of no great matter, in man or
woman, in the eyes of God; for mother has often told me so, when she thought I
might have been sorry I was not as handsome as you,--though she needn t have
been uneasy on that account, for I never coveted any thing that is yours,
sister; but tell me so she did;--still, beauty is very pleasant to the eye, in
both. I think, if I were a man, I should pine more for good looks, than I do
as a girl. A handsome man is a more pleasing sight than a handsome woman.
Poor child! you scarce know what you say, or what you mean! Beauty in our
sexis something, but in man, it passes for little. To be sure, a man ought to
be tall, but others are tall as well as Hurry; and active--I think I know
those that are more active; and strong--well, he hasn t all the strength in
the world; and brave--I am certain I can name a youth who is braver!
This is strange, Judith. I didn t think the earth held a handsomer, or a
stronger, or a more active, or a braver man than Harry Hurry! I am sureI never
met his equal in either of these things.
Well, well, Hetty--say no more of this. I dislike to hearyou talking in this
manner. Tis not suitable to your innocence, and truth, and warm-hearted
sincerity. Let Harry March go. He quits us to-night, and no regret of mine
will follow him, unless it be that he has staid so long, and to so little
purpose.
Ah! Judith, this is what I ve long feared; and I didso hope he might be my
brother-in-law!
Never mind it now; let us talk of our poor mother, and of Thomas Hutter.
Speak kindly, then, sister, for you can t be quite certain that spirits
don t both hear and see. If father wasn t father, he was good to us, and gave
us food and shelter. We can t put any stones over their graves, here in the
water, to tell people all this, and so we ought to say it with our tongues.
They will care little for that, girl. T is a great consolation to know,
Hetty, that if mother ever did commit any heavy fault when young, that she
lived sincerely to repent of it; no doubt her sins were forgiven her.
T isn t right, Judith, for children to talk of their parent s sins. We had
better talk of our own.
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Talk of your sins, Hetty! If there ever was a creature on earth without sin,
it is you! I wish I could say or think the same of myself; but we shall see.
No one knows what changes affection for a good husband can make in a woman s
heart. I don t think, child, I have even now the same love for finery I once
had.
It would be a pity, Judith, if you did think of clothes, over your parents
graves! We will never quit this spot, if you say so, and will let Hurry go
where he pleases.
I am willing enough to consent to the last, but cannot answer for the first,
Hetty. We must live, in future, as becomes respectable young women, and cannot
remain here to be the talk and jest of all the rude and foul-tongued trappers
and hunters that may come upon the lake. Let Hurry go by himself, and then
I ll find the means to see Deerslayer, when the future shall be soon settled.
Come, girl, the sun has set, and the ark is drifting away from us; let us
paddle up to the scow, and consult with our friends. This night I shall look
into the chest, and to-morrow shall determine what we are to do. As for the
Hurons, now we can use our stores without fear of Thomas Hutter, they will be
easily bought off. Let me get Deerslayer once out of their hands, and a single
hour shall bring things to an understanding.
Judith spoke with decision, and she spoke with authority, a habit she had
long practised towards her feeble-minded sister. But, while thus accustomed to
have her way, by the aid of manner and a readier command of words, Hetty
occasionally checked her impetuous feelings and hasty acts by the aid of those
simple, moral truths that were so deeply engrafted in all her own thoughts and
feelings; shining through both with a mild and beautiful lustre that threw a
sort of holy halo around so much of what she both said and did. On the present
occasion, this healthful ascendency of the girl of weak intellect, over her of [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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