“There is a pleasure in the pathless woods,
There is a rapture1 on the lonely shore.
There is society where none intrudes2,
By the deep sea, and music in its roar:
I love not man the less, but nature more,
From these our interviews, in which I steal
From all I may be, or have been before,
To mingle3 with the universe, and feel
What I can ne’er express, yet cannot all conceal”
Childe Harold.
On the human imagination events produce the effects of time. Thus, he who has travelled far and seen much is apt to fancy that he has lived long; and the history that most abounds4 in important incidents soonest assumes the aspect of antiquity5. In no other way can we account for the venerable air that is already gathering6 around American annals. When the mind reverts7 to the earliest days of colonial history, the period seems remote and obscure, the thousand changes that thicken along the links of recollections, throwing back the origin of the nation to a day so distant as seemingly to reach the mists of time; and yet four lives of ordinary duration would suffice to transmit, from mouth to mouth, in the form of tradition, all that civilized8 man has achieved within the limits of the republic. Although New York alone possesses a population materially exceeding that of either of the four smallest kingdoms of Europe, or materially exceeding that of the entire Swiss Confederation, it is little more than two centuries since the Dutch commenced their settlement, rescuing the region from the savage9 state. Thus, what seems venerable by an accumulation of changes is reduced to familiarity when we come seriously to consider it solely10 in connection with time.
This glance into the perspective of the past will prepare the reader to look at the pictures we are about to sketch11, with less surprise than he might otherwise feel; and a few additional explanations may carry him back in imagination to the precise condition of society that we desire to delineate. It is matter of history that the settlements on the eastern shores of the Hudson, such as Claverack, Kinderhook, and even Poughkeepsie, were not regarded as safe from Indian incursions a century since; and there is still standing12 on the banks of the same river, and within musket-shot of the wharves13 of Albany, a residence of a younger branch of the Van Rensselaers, that has loopholes constructed for defence against the same crafty14 enemy, although it dates from a period scarcely so distant. Other similar memorials of the infancy15 of the country are to be found, scattered16 through what is now deemed the very centre of American civilization, affording the plainest proofs that all we possess of security from invasion and hostile violence is the growth of but little more than the time that is frequently fulfilled by a single human life.
The incidents of this tale occurred between the years 1740 and 1745, when the settled portions of the colony of New York were confined to the four Atlantic counties, a narrow belt of country on each side of the Hudson, extending from its mouth to the falls near its head, and to a few advanced “neighborhoods” on the Mohawk and the Schoharie. Broad belts of the virgin17 wilderness18 not only reached the shores of the first river, but they even crossed it, stretching away into New England, and affording forest covers to the noiseless moccasin of the native warrior19, as he trod the secret and bloody20 war-path. A bird’s-eye view of the whole region east of the Mississippi must then have offered one vast expanse of woods, relieved by a comparatively narrow fringe of cultivation21 along the sea, dotted by the glittering surfaces of lakes, and intersected by the waving lines of river. In such a vast picture of solemn solitude22, the district of country we design to paint sinks into insignificance23, though we feel encouraged to proceed by the conviction that, with slight and immaterial distinctions, he who succeeds in giving an accurate idea of any portion of this wild region must necessarily convey a tolerably correct notion of the whole.
Whatever may be the changes produced by man, the eternal round of the seasons is unbroken. Summer and winter, seed-time and harvest, return in their stated order with a sublime24 precision, affording to man one of the noblest of all the occasions he enjoys of proving the high powers of his far-reaching mind, in compassing the laws that control their exact uniformity, and in calculating their never-ending revolutions.
Centuries of summer suns had warmed the tops of the same noble oaks and pines, sending their heats even to the tenacious25 roots, when voices were heard calling to each other, in the depths of a forest, of which the leafy surface lay bathed in the brilliant light of a cloudless day in June, while the trunks of the trees rose in gloomy grandeur26 in the shades beneath. The calls were in different tones, evidently proceeding27 from two men who had lost their way, and were searching in different directions for their path. At length a shout proclaimed success, and presently a man of gigantic mould broke out of the tangled28 labyrinth29 of a small swamp, emerging into an opening that appeared to have been formed partly by the ravages30 of the wind, and partly by those of fire. This little area, which afforded a good view of the sky, although it was pretty well filled with dead trees, lay on the side of one of the high hills, or low mountains, into which nearly the whole surface of the adjacent country was broken.
“Here is room to breathe in!” exclaimed the liberated31 forester, as soon as he found himself under a clear sky, shaking his huge frame like a mastiff that has just escaped from a snowbank. “Hurrah! Deerslayer; here is daylight, at last, and yonder is the lake.”
These words were scarcely uttered when the second forester dashed aside the bushes of the swamp, and appeared in the area. After making a hurried adjustment of his arms and disordered dress, he joined his companion, who had already begun his disposition33 for a halt.
“Do you know this spot!” demanded the one called Deerslayer, “or do you shout at the sight of the sun?”
“Both, lad, both; I know the spot, and am not sorry to see so useful a fri’nd as the sun. Now we have got the p’ints of the compass in our minds once more, and ‘t will be our own faults if we let anything turn them topsy-turvy ag’in, as has just happened. My name is not Hurry Harry34, if this be not the very spot where the land-hunters camped the last summer, and passed a week. See I yonder are the dead bushes of their bower35, and here is the spring. Much as I like the sun, boy, I’ve no occasion for it to tell me it is noon; this stomach of mine is as good a time-piece as is to be found in the colony, and it already p’ints to half-past twelve. So open the wallet, and let us wind up for another six hours’ run.”
At this suggestion, both set themselves about making the preparations necessary for their usual frugal36 but hearty38 meal. We will profit by this pause in the discourse39 to give the reader some idea of the appearance of the men, each of whom is destined40 to enact41 no insignificant42 part in our legend.
It would not have been easy to find a more noble specimen43 of vigorous manhood than was offered in the person of him who called himself Hurry Harry. His real name was Henry March but the frontiersmen having caught the practice of giving sobriquets44 from the Indians, the appellation45 of Hurry was far oftener applied46 to him than his proper designation, and not unfrequently he was termed Hurry Skurry, a nickname he had obtained from a dashing, reckless offhand47 manner, and a physical restlessness that kept him so constantly on the move, as to cause him to be known along the whole line of scattered habitations that lay between the province and the Canadas. The stature48 of Hurry Harry exceeded six feet four, and being unusually well proportioned, his strength fully49 realized the idea created by his gigantic frame. The face did no discredit50 to the rest of the man, for it was both good-humored and handsome. His air was free, and though his manner necessarily partook of the rudeness of a border life, the grandeur that pervaded51 so noble a physique prevented it from becoming altogether vulgar.
Deerslayer, as Hurry called his companion, was a very different person in appearance, as well as in character. In stature he stood about six feet in his moccasins, but his frame was comparatively light and slender, showing muscles, however, that promised unusual agility52, if not unusual strength. His face would have had little to recommend it except youth, were it not for an expression that seldom failed to win upon those who had leisure to examine it, and to yield to the feeling of confidence it created. This expression was simply that of guileless truth, sustained by an earnestness of purpose, and a sincerity53 of feeling, that rendered it remarkable54. At times this air of integrity seemed to be so simple as to awaken55 the suspicion of a want of the usual means to discriminate56 between artifice57 and truth; but few came in serious contact with the man, without losing this distrust in respect for his opinions and motives58.
Both these frontiersmen were still young, Hurry having reached the age of six or eight and twenty, while Deerslayer was several years his junior. Their attire59 needs no particular description, though it may be well to add that it was composed in no small degree of dressed deer-skins, and had the usual signs of belonging to those who pass their time between the skirts of civilized society and the boundless60 forests. There was, notwithstanding, some attention to smartness and the picturesque61 in the arrangements of Deerslayer’s dress, more particularly in the part connected with his arms and accoutrements. His rifle was in perfect condition, the handle of his hunting-knife was neatly62 carved, his powder-horn was ornamented63 with suitable devices lightly cut into the material, and his shot-pouch was decorated with wampum.
On the other hand, Hurry Harry, either from constitutional recklessness, or from a secret consciousness how little his appearance required artificial aids, wore everything in a careless, slovenly64 manner, as if he felt a noble scorn for the trifling65 accessories of dress and ornaments66. Perhaps the peculiar67 effect of his fine form and great stature was increased rather than lessened68, by this unstudied and disdainful air of indifference69.
“Come, Deerslayer, fall to, and prove that you have a Delaware stomach, as you say you have had a Delaware edication,” cried Hurry, setting the example by opening his mouth to receive a slice of cold venison steak that would have made an entire meal for a European peasant; “fall to, lad, and prove your manhood on this poor devil of a doe with your teeth, as you’ve already done with your rifle.”
“Nay70, nay, Hurry, there’s little manhood in killing71 a doe, and that too out of season; though there might be some in bringing down a painter or a catamount,” returned the other, disposing himself to comply. “The Delawares have given me my name, not so much on account of a bold heart, as on account of a quick eye, and an actyve foot. There may not be any cowardyce in overcoming a deer, but sartain it is, there’s no great valor72.”
“The Delawares themselves are no heroes,” muttered Hurry through his teeth, the mouth being too full to permit it to be fairly opened, “or they would never have allowed them loping vagabonds, the Mingos, to make them women.”
“That matter is not rightly understood — has never been rightly explained,” said Deerslayer earnestly, for he was as zealous73 a friend as his companion was dangerous as an enemy; “the Mengwe fill the woods with their lies, and misconstruct words and treaties. I have now lived ten years with the Delawares, and know them to be as manful as any other nation, when the proper time to strike comes.”
“Harkee, Master Deerslayer, since we are on the subject, we may as well open our minds to each other in a man-to-man way; answer me one question; you have had so much luck among the game as to have gotten a title, it would seem, but did you ever hit anything human or intelligible74: did you ever pull trigger on an inimy that was capable of pulling one upon you?”
This question produced a singular collision between mortification75 and correct feeling, in the bosom76 of the youth, that was easily to be traced in the workings of his ingenuous77 countenance78. The struggle was short, however; uprightness of heart soon getting the better of false pride and frontier boastfulness.
“To own the truth, I never did,” answered Deerslayer; “seeing that a fitting occasion never offered. The Delawares have been peaceable since my sojourn79 with ’em, and I hold it to be onlawful to take the life of man, except in open and generous warfare81.”
“What! did you never find a fellow thieving among your traps and skins, and do the law on him with your own hands, by way of saving the magistrates82 trouble in the settlements, and the rogue83 himself the cost of the suit!”
“I am no trapper, Hurry,” returned the young man proudly: “I live by the rifle, a we’pon at which I will not turn my back on any man of my years, atween the Hudson and the St. Lawrence. I never offer a skin that has not a hole in its head besides them which natur’ made to see with or to breathe through.”
“Ay, ay, this is all very well, in the animal way, though it makes but a poor figure alongside of scalps and ambushes84. Shooting an Indian from an ambush85 is acting86 up to his own principles, and now we have what you call a lawful80 war on our hands, the sooner you wipe that disgrace off your character, the sounder will be your sleep; if it only come from knowing there is one inimy the less prowling in the woods. I shall not frequent your society long, friend Natty87, unless you look higher than four-footed beasts to practice your rifle on.”
“Our journey is nearly ended, you say, Master March, and we can part to-night, if you see occasion. I have a fri’nd waiting for me, who will think it no disgrace to consort88 with a fellow-creatur’ that has never yet slain89 his kind.”
“I wish I knew what has brought that skulking90 Delaware into this part of the country so early in the season,” muttered Hurry to himself, in a way to show equally distrust and a recklessness of its betrayal. “Where did you say the young chief was to give you the meeting!”
“At a small round rock, near the foot of the lake, where they tell me, the tribes are given to resorting to make their treaties, and to bury their hatchets91. This rock have I often heard the Delawares mention, though lake and rock are equally strangers to me. The country is claimed by both Mingos and Mohicans, and is a sort of common territory to fish and hunt through, in time of peace, though what it may become in war-time, the Lord only knows!”
“Common territory” exclaimed Hurry, laughing aloud. “I should like to know what Floating Tom Hutter would say to that! He claims the lake as his own property, in vartue of fifteen years’ possession, and will not be likely to give it up to either Mingo or Delaware without a battle for it!”
“And what will the colony say to such a quarrel! All this country must have some owner, the gentry92 pushing their cravings into the wilderness, even where they never dare to ventur’, in their own persons, to look at the land they own.”
“That may do in other quarters of the colony, Deerslayer, but it will not do here. Not a human being, the Lord excepted, owns a foot of sile in this part of the country. Pen was never put to paper consarning either hill or valley hereaway, as I’ve heard old Tom say time and ag’in, and so he claims the best right to it of any man breathing; and what Tom claims, he’ll be very likely to maintain.”
“By what I’ve heard you say, Hurry, this Floating Tom must be an oncommon mortal; neither Mingo, Delaware, nor pale-face. His possession, too, has been long, by your tell, and altogether beyond frontier endurance. What’s the man’s history and natur’?”
“Why, as to old Tom’s human natur’, it is not much like other men’s human natur’, but more like a muskrat’s human natar’, seeing that he takes more to the ways of that animal than to the ways of any other fellow-creatur’. Some think he was a free liver on the salt water, in his youth, and a companion of a sartain Kidd, who was hanged for piracy93, long afore you and I were born or acquainted, and that he came up into these regions, thinking that the king’s cruisers could never cross the mountains, and that he might enjoy the plunder94 peaceably in the woods.”
“Then he was wrong, Hurry; very wrong. A man can enjoy plunder peaceably nowhere.”
“That’s much as his turn of mind may happen to be. I’ve known them that never could enjoy it at all, unless it was in the midst of a jollification, and them again that enjoyed it best in a corner. Some men have no peace if they don’t find plunder, and some if they do. Human nature’ is crooked95 in these matters. Old Tom seems to belong to neither set, as he enjoys his, if plunder he has really got, with his darters, in a very quiet and comfortable way, and wishes for no more.”
“Ay, he has darters, too; I’ve heard the Delawares, who’ve hunted this a way, tell their histories of these young women. Is there no mother, Hurry?”
“There was once, as in reason; but she has now been dead and sunk these two good years.”
“Anan?” said Deerslayer, looking up at his companion in a little surprise.
“Dead and sunk, I say, and I hope that’s good English. The old fellow lowered his wife into the lake, by way of seeing the last of her, as I can testify, being an eye-witness of the ceremony; but whether Tom did it to save digging, which is no easy job among roots, or out of a consait that water washes away sin sooner than ‘arth, is more than I can say.”
“Was the poor woman oncommon wicked, that her husband should take so much pains with her body?”
“Not onreasonable; though she had her faults. I consider Judith Hutter to have been as graceful96, and about as likely to make a good ind as any woman who had lived so long beyond the sound of church bells; and I conclude old Tom sunk her as much by way of saving pains, as by way of taking it. There was a little steel in her temper, it’s true, and, as old Hutter is pretty much flint, they struck out sparks once-and-a-while; but, on the whole, they might be said to live amicable97 like. When they did kindle98, the listeners got some such insights into their past lives, as one gets into the darker parts of the woods, when a stray gleam of sunshine finds its way down to the roots of the trees. But Judith I shall always esteem99, as it’s recommend enough to one woman to be the mother of such a creatur’ as her darter, Judith Hutter!”
“Ay, Judith was the name the Delawares mentioned, though it was pronounced after a fashion of their own. From their discourse, I do not think the girl would much please my fancy.”
“Thy fancy!” exclaimed March, taking fire equally at the indifference and at the presumption100 of his companion, “what the devil have you to do with a fancy, and that, too, consarning one like Judith? You are but a boy — a sapling, that has scarce got root. Judith has had men among her suitors, ever since she was fifteen; which is now near five years; and will not be apt even to cast a look upon a half-grown creatur’ like you!”
“It is June, and there is not a cloud atween us and the sun, Hurry, so all this heat is not wanted,” answered the other, altogether undisturbed; “any one may have a fancy, and a squirrel has a right to make up his mind touching101 a catamount.”
“Ay, but it might not be wise, always, to let the catamount know it,” growled102 March. “But you’re young and thoughtless, and I’ll overlook your ignorance. Come, Deerslayer,” he added, with a good-natured laugh, after pausing a moment to reflect, “come, Deerslayer, we are sworn friends, and will not quarrel about a light-minded, jilting jade103, just because she happens to be handsome; more especially as you have never seen her. Judith is only for a man whose teeth show the full marks, and it’s foolish to be afeard of a boy. What did the Delawares say of the hussy? for an Indian, after all, has his notions of woman-kind, as well as a white man.”
“They said she was fair to look on, and pleasant of speech; but over-given to admirers, and light-minded.”
“They are devils incarnate104! After all, what schoolmaster is a match for an Indian, in looking into natur’! Some people think they are only good on a trail or the war-path, but I say that they are philosophers, and understand a man as well as they understand a beaver105, and a woman as well as they understand either. Now that’s Judith’s character to a ribbon! To own the truth to you, Deerslayer, I should have married the gal37 two years since, if it had not been for two particular things, one of which was this very lightmindedness.”
“And what may have been the other?” demanded the hunter, who continued to eat like one that took very little interest in the subject.
“T’other was an insartainty about her having me. The hussy is handsome, and she knows it. Boy, not a tree that is growing in these hills is straighter, or waves in the wind with an easier bend, nor did you ever see the doe that bounded with a more nat’ral motion. If that was all, every tongue would sound her praises; but she has such failings that I find it hard to overlook them, and sometimes I swear I’ll never visit the lake again.”
“Which is the reason that you always come back? Nothing is ever made more sure by swearing about it.”
“Ah, Deerslayer, you are a novelty in these particulars; keeping as true to education as if you had never left the settlements. With me the case is different, and I never want to clinch106 an idee, that I do not feel a wish to swear about it. If you know’d all that I know consarning Judith, you’d find a justification107 for a little cussing. Now, the officers sometimes stray over to the lake, from the forts on the Mohawk, to fish and hunt, and then the creatur’ seems beside herself! You can see in the manner which she wears her finery, and the airs she gives herself with the gallants.”
“That is unseemly in a poor man’s darter,” returned Deerslayer gravely, “the officers are all gentry, and can only look on such as Judith with evil intentions.”
“There’s the unsartainty, and the damper! I have my misgivings108 about a particular captain, and Jude has no one to blame but her own folly109, if I’m right. On the whole, I wish to look upon her as modest and becoming, and yet the clouds that drive among these hills are not more unsartain. Not a dozen white men have ever laid eyes upon her since she was a child, and yet her airs, with two or three of these officers, are extinguishers!”
“I would think no more of such a woman, but turn my mind altogether to the forest; that will not deceive you, being ordered and ruled by a hand that never wavers.”
“If you know’d Judith, you would see how much easier it is to say this than it would be to do it. Could I bring my mind to be easy about the officers, I would carry the gal off to the Mohawk by force, make her marry me in spite of her whiffling, and leave old Tom to the care of Hetty, his other child, who, if she be not as handsome or as quick-witted as her sister, is much the most dutiful.”
“Is there another bird in the same nest!” asked Deerslayer, raising his eyes with a species of half-awakened curiosity, “the Delawares spoke110 to me only of one.”
“That’s nat’ral enough, when Judith Hutter and Hetty Hutter are in question. Hetty is only comely111, while her sister, I tell thee, boy, is such another as is not to be found atween this and the sea: Judith is as full of wit, and talk, and cunning, as an old Indian orator112, while poor Hetty is at the best but ‘compass’ meant us.”
“Anan?” inquired, again, the Deerslayer.
“Why, what the officers call ‘compass meant us,’ which I understand to signify that she means always to go in the right direction, but sometimes does not know how. ‘Compass’for the p’int, and ‘meant us’ for the intention. No, poor Hetty is what I call on the verge113 of ignorance, and sometimes she stumbles on one side of the line, and sometimes on t’other.”
“Them are beings that the Lord has in his special care,” said Deerslayer, solemnly; “for he looks carefully to all who fall short of their proper share of reason. The red-skins honor and respect them who are so gifted, knowing that the Evil Spirit delights more to dwell in an artful body, than in one that has no cunning to work upon.”
“I’ll answer for it, then, that he will not remain long with poor Hetty; for the child is just ‘compass meant us,’ as I have told you. Old Tom has a feeling for the gal, and so has Judith, quick-witted and glorious as she is herself; else would I not answer for her being altogether safe among the sort of men that sometimes meet on the lake shore.”
“I thought this water an unknown and little-frequented sheet,” observed the Deerslayer, evidently uneasy at the idea of being too near the world.
“It’s all that, lad, the eyes of twenty white men never having been laid on it; still, twenty true-bred frontiersmen — hunters and trappers, and scouts114, and the like,— can do a deal of mischief115 if they try. ‘T would be an awful thing to me, Deerslayer, did I find Judith married, after an absence of six months!”
“Have you the gal’s faith, to encourage you to hope otherwise?”
“Not at all. I know not how it is: I’m good-looking, boy,— that much I can see in any spring on which the sun shines,— and yet I could not get the hussy to a promise, or even a cordial willing smile, though she will laugh by the hour. If she has dared to marry in my absence, she’d be like to know the pleasures of widowhood afore she is twenty!”
“You would not harm the man she has chosen, Hurry, simply because she found him more to her liking116 than yourself!”
“Why not! If an enemy crosses my path, will I not beat him out of it! Look at me! am I a man like to let any sneaking117, crawling, skin-trader get the better of me in a matter that touches me as near as the kindness of Judith Hutter! Besides, when we live beyond law, we must be our own judges and executioners. And if a man should be found dead in the woods, who is there to say who slew118 him, even admitting that the colony took the matter in hand and made a stir about it?”
“If that man should be Judith Hutter’s husband, after what has passed, I might tell enough, at least, to put the colony on the trail.”
“You!— half-grown, venison-hunting bantling! You dare to think of informing against Hurry Harry in so much as a matter touching a mink119 or a woodchuck!”
“I would dare to speak truth, Hurry, consarning you or any man that ever lived.”
March looked at his companion, for a moment, in silent amazement120; then seizing him by the throat with both hands, he shook his comparatively slight frame with a violence that menaced the dislocation of some of the bones. Nor was this done jocularly, for anger flashed from the giant’s eyes, and there were certain signs that seemed to threaten much more earnestness than the occasion would appear to call for. Whatever might be the real intention of March, and it is probable there was none settled in his mind, it is certain that he was unusually aroused; and most men who found themselves throttled121 by one of a mould so gigantic, in such a mood, and in a solitude so deep and helpless, would have felt intimidated122, and tempted123 to yield even the right. Not so, however, with Deerslayer. His countenance remained unmoved; his hand did not shake, and his answer was given in a voice that did not resort to the artifice of louder tones, even by way of proving its owner’s resolution.
“You may shake, Hurry, until you bring down the mountain,” he said quietly, “but nothing beside truth will you shake from me. It is probable that Judith Hutter has no husband to slay32, and you may never have a chance to waylay124 one, else would I tell her of your threat, in the first conversation I held with the gal.”
March released his grip, and sat regarding the other in silent astonishment125.
“I thought we had been friends,” he at length added; “but you’ve got the last secret of mine that will ever enter your ears.”
“I want none, if they are to be like this. I know we live in the woods, Hurry, and are thought to be beyond human laws,— and perhaps we are so, in fact, whatever it may be in right,— but there is a law and a law-maker, that rule across the whole continent. He that flies in the face of either need not call me a friend.”
“Damme, Deerslayer, if I do not believe you are at heart a Moravian, and no fair-minded, plain-dealing hunter, as you’ve pretended to be!”
“Fair-minded or not, Hurry, you will find me as plaindealing in deeds as I am in words. But this giving way to sudden anger is foolish, and proves how little you have sojourned with the red man. Judith Hutter no doubt is still single, and you spoke but as the tongue ran, and not as the heart felt. There’s my hand, and we will say and think no more about it.”
Hurry seemed more surprised than ever; then he burst forth126 in a loud, good-natured laugh, which brought tears to his eyes. After this he accepted the offered hand, and the parties became friends.
“‘T would have been foolish to quarrel about an idee,” March cried, as he resumed his meal, “and more like lawyers in the towns than like sensible men in the woods. They tell me, Deerslayer, much ill-blood grows out of idees among the people in the lower counties, and that they sometimes get to extremities127 upon them.”
“That do they,-that do they; and about other matters that might better be left to take care of themselves. I have heard the Moravians say that there are lands in which men quarrel even consarning their religion; and if they can get their tempers up on such a subject, Hurry, the Lord have Marcy on ’em. Howsoever, there is no occasion for our following their example, and more especially about a husband that this Judith Hutter may never see, or never wish to see. For my part, I feel more cur’osity about the feeble-witted sister than about your beauty. There’s something that comes close to a man’s feelin’s, when he meets with a fellow-creatur’ that has all the outward show of an accountable mortal, and who fails of being what he seems, only through a lack of reason. This is bad enough in a man, but when it comes to a woman, and she a young, and maybe a winning creatur’ it touches all the pitiful thoughts his natur’ has. God knows, Hurry, that such poor things be defenceless enough with all their wits about ’em; but it’s a cruel fortun’ when that great protector and guide fails ’em.”
“Hark, Deerslayer,— you know what the hunters, and trappers, and peltry-men in general be; and their best friends will not deny that they are headstrong and given to having their own way, without much bethinking ’em of other people’s rights or feelin’s,— and yet I don’t think the man is to be found, in all this region, who would harm Hetty Hutter, if he could; no, not even a red-skin.”
“Therein, fri’nd Hurry, you do the Delawares, at least, and all their allied128 tribes, only justice, for a red-skin looks upon a being thus struck by God’s power as especially under his care. I rejoice to hear what you say, however, I rejoice to hear it; but as the sun is beginning to turn towards the afternoon’s sky, had we not better strike the trail again, and make forward, that we may get an opportunity of seeing these wonderful sisters?”
Harry March giving a cheerful assent129, the remnants of the meal were soon collected; then the travelers shouldered their packs, resumed their arms, and, quitting the little area of light, they again plunged130 into the deep shadows of the forest.
收听单词发音 |
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rapture
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| n.狂喜；全神贯注；着迷；v.使狂喜 | |
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intrudes
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| v.侵入，侵扰，打扰( intrude的第三人称单数 )；把…强加于 | |
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mingle
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| vt.使混合，使相混；vi.混合起来；相交往 | |
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abounds
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| v.大量存在，充满，富于( abound的第三人称单数 ) | |
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antiquity
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| n.古老；高龄；古物，古迹 | |
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6
gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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7
reverts
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| 恢复( revert的第三人称单数 )； 重提； 回到…上； 归还 | |
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8
civilized
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| a.有教养的，文雅的 | |
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savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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solely
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| adv.仅仅，唯一地 | |
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sketch
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| n.草图；梗概；素描；v.素描；概述 | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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13
wharves
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| n.码头，停泊处( wharf的名词复数 ) | |
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14
crafty
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| adj.狡猾的，诡诈的 | |
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infancy
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| n.婴儿期；幼年期；初期 | |
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scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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virgin
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| n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的 | |
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18
wilderness
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| n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠 | |
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19
warrior
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| n.勇士，武士，斗士 | |
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20
bloody
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| adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染 | |
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21
cultivation
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| n.耕作，培养，栽培（法），养成 | |
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22
solitude
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| n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
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23
insignificance
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| n.不重要；无价值；无意义 | |
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24
sublime
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| adj.崇高的，伟大的；极度的，不顾后果的 | |
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tenacious
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| adj.顽强的，固执的，记忆力强的，粘的 | |
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grandeur
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| n.伟大，崇高，宏伟，庄严，豪华 | |
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proceeding
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| n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报 | |
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28
tangled
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| adj. 纠缠的，紊乱的 动词tangle的过去式和过去分词 | |
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29
labyrinth
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| n.迷宫；难解的事物；迷路 | |
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30
ravages
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| 劫掠后的残迹，破坏的结果，毁坏后的残迹 | |
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31
liberated
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| a.无拘束的，放纵的 | |
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32
slay
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| v.杀死，宰杀，杀戮 | |
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33
disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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34
harry
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| vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼 | |
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35
bower
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| n.凉亭，树荫下凉快之处；闺房；v.荫蔽 | |
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36
frugal
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| adj.节俭的，节约的，少量的，微量的 | |
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37
gal
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| n.姑娘，少女 | |
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38
hearty
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| adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的 | |
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39
discourse
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| n.论文，演说；谈话；话语；vi.讲述，著述 | |
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40
destined
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| adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的 | |
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41
enact
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| vt.制定(法律)；上演，扮演 | |
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42
insignificant
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| adj.无关紧要的，可忽略的，无意义的 | |
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43
specimen
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| n.样本，标本 | |
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44
sobriquets
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| n.绰号，诨名( sobriquet的名词复数 ) | |
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45
appellation
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| n.名称，称呼 | |
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46
applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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47
offhand
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| adj.临时，无准备的；随便，马虎的 | |
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48
stature
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| n.（高度）水平，（高度）境界，身高，身材 | |
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49
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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50
discredit
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| vt.使不可置信；n.丧失信义；不信，怀疑 | |
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51
pervaded
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| v.遍及，弥漫( pervade的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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52
agility
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| n.敏捷，活泼 | |
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53
sincerity
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| n.真诚，诚意；真实 | |
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54
remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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55
awaken
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| vi.醒，觉醒；vt.唤醒，使觉醒，唤起，激起 | |
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56
discriminate
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| v.区别，辨别，区分；有区别地对待 | |
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57
artifice
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| n.妙计，高明的手段；狡诈，诡计 | |
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58
motives
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| n.动机，目的( motive的名词复数 ) | |
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59
attire
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| v.穿衣，装扮[同]array；n.衣着；盛装 | |
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60
boundless
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| adj.无限的；无边无际的；巨大的 | |
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61
picturesque
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| adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的 | |
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62
neatly
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| adv.整洁地，干净地，灵巧地，熟练地 | |
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63
ornamented
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| adj.花式字体的v.装饰，点缀，美化( ornament的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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64
slovenly
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| adj.懒散的，不整齐的，邋遢的 | |
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65
trifling
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| adj.微不足道的；没什么价值的 | |
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66
ornaments
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| n.装饰( ornament的名词复数 )；点缀；装饰品；首饰v.装饰，点缀，美化( ornament的第三人称单数 ) | |
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67
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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68
lessened
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| 减少的，减弱的 | |
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69
indifference
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| n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎 | |
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70
nay
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| adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者 | |
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71
killing
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| n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财 | |
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72
valor
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| n.勇气，英勇 | |
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73
zealous
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| adj.狂热的，热心的 | |
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74
intelligible
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| adj.可理解的，明白易懂的，清楚的 | |
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75
mortification
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| n.耻辱，屈辱 | |
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76
bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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77
ingenuous
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| adj.纯朴的，单纯的；天真的；坦率的 | |
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78
countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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79
sojourn
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| v./n.旅居，寄居；逗留 | |
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80
lawful
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| adj.法律许可的，守法的，合法的 | |
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81
warfare
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| n.战争(状态)；斗争；冲突 | |
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82
magistrates
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| 地方法官，治安官( magistrate的名词复数 ) | |
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83
rogue
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| n.流氓；v.游手好闲 | |
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84
ambushes
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| n.埋伏( ambush的名词复数 )；伏击；埋伏着的人；设埋伏点v.埋伏( ambush的第三人称单数 )；埋伏着 | |
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85
ambush
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| n.埋伏(地点)；伏兵；v.埋伏；伏击 | |
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86
acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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87
natty
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| adj.整洁的，漂亮的 | |
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88
consort
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| v.相伴；结交 | |
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89
slain
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| 杀死，宰杀，杀戮( slay的过去分词 )； (slay的过去分词) | |
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90
skulking
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| v.潜伏，偷偷摸摸地走动，鬼鬼祟祟地活动( skulk的现在分词 ) | |
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91
hatchets
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| n.短柄小斧( hatchet的名词复数 )；恶毒攻击；诽谤；休战 | |
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92
gentry
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| n.绅士阶级，上层阶级 | |
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93
piracy
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| n.海盗行为，剽窃，著作权侵害 | |
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94
plunder
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| vt.劫掠财物，掠夺；n.劫掠物，赃物；劫掠 | |
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95
crooked
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| adj.弯曲的；不诚实的，狡猾的，不正当的 | |
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96
graceful
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| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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97
amicable
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| adj.和平的，友好的；友善的 | |
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98
kindle
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| v.点燃，着火 | |
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99
esteem
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| n.尊敬，尊重；vt.尊重，敬重；把…看作 | |
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100
presumption
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| n.推测，可能性，冒昧，放肆，[法律]推定 | |
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101
touching
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| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
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102
growled
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| v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说 | |
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103
jade
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| n.玉石；碧玉；翡翠 | |
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104
incarnate
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| adj.化身的，人体化的，肉色的 | |
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105
beaver
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| n.海狸，河狸 | |
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106
clinch
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| v.敲弯，钉牢；确定；扭住对方 [参]clench | |
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107
justification
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| n.正当的理由；辩解的理由 | |
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108
misgivings
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| n.疑虑，担忧，害怕；疑虑，担心，恐惧( misgiving的名词复数 )；疑惧 | |
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109
folly
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| n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话 | |
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110
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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111
comely
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| adj.漂亮的，合宜的 | |
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112
orator
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| n.演说者，演讲者，雄辩家 | |
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113
verge
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| n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临 | |
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114
scouts
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| 侦察员[机，舰]( scout的名词复数 )； 童子军； 搜索； 童子军成员 | |
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115
mischief
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| n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹 | |
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116
liking
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| n.爱好；嗜好；喜欢 | |
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117
sneaking
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| a.秘密的，不公开的 | |
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118
slew
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| v.（使）旋转；n.大量，许多 | |
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119
mink
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| n.貂，貂皮 | |
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120
amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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121
throttled
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| v.扼杀( throttle的过去式和过去分词 )；勒死；使窒息；压制 | |
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122
intimidated
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| v.恐吓；威胁adj.害怕的；受到威胁的 | |
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123
tempted
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| v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词） | |
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124
waylay
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| v.埋伏，伏击 | |
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125
astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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126
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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127
extremities
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| n.端点( extremity的名词复数 )；尽头；手和足；极窘迫的境地 | |
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128
allied
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| adj.协约国的；同盟国的 | |
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129
assent
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| v.批准，认可；n.批准，认可 | |
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130
plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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