[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.But, young man, thou hast a name, and I shall see you again, in order to compensate thee for the wrong I have done thee?«»I am called Edwards,« returned the hunter, »Oliver Edwards.I am easily to be seen, sir, for I live nigh by, and am not afraid to show my face, having never injured any man.«»It is we, who have injured you, sir,« said Elizabeth; »and the knowledge, that you decline our assistance, would give my father great pain.He would gladly see you in the morning.«The young hunter gazed at the fair speaker, until his earnest look brought the blood to her temples; when, recollecting himself, he bent his head, dropping his eyes to the carpet, and replied –»In the morning, then, will I return, and see Judge Temple; and I will accept his offer of the sleigh, in token of amity.«»Amity!« repeated Marmaduke; »there was no malice in the act that injured thee, young man; there should be none in the feelings which it may engender.«»Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us,« observed Mr.Grant, »is the language used by our Divine Master himself, and it should be the golden rule of us, his humble followers.«The stranger stood a moment, lost in thought, and then, glancing his dark eyes, rather wildly, around the hall, he bowed low to the divine, and moved from the apartment, with an air that would not admit of detention.»'Tis strange, that one so young should harbour such feelings of resentment,« said Marmaduke, when the door closed behind the stranger; »but while the pain is recent, and the sense of the injury so fresh, he must feel more strongly than in cooler moments.I doubt not, we shall see him, in the morning, more tractable.«Elizabeth, to whom this speech was addressed, did not reply, but moved slowly up the hall, by herself, fixing her eyes on the little figure of the English ingrained carpet, that covered the floor; while, on the other hand, Richard gave a loud crack with his whip, as the stranger disappeared, and cried –»Well, 'duke, you are your own master, but I would have tried law for the saddle, before I would have given it to the fellow.Do you not own the mountains, as well as the valleys? are not the woods your own? what right has this chap, or the Leather-stocking, to shoot in your woods, without your permission? Now, I have known a farmer, in Pennsylvania, order a sportsman off his farm, with as little ceremony as I would order Benjamin to put a log in the stove.By-the-by, Benjamin, see how the thermometer stands.Now, if a man has a right to do this, on a farm of a hundred acres, what power must a landlord have, who owns sixty thousand – ay! for the matter of that, including the late purchases, a hundred thousand? There is Mohegan, to-be-sure, he may have some right, being a native; but it's little the poor fellow can do now with his rifle.How is this managed in France, Monsieur Le Quoi? do you let every body run over your land, in that country, helter-skelter, as they do here, shooting the game, so that a gentleman has but little or no chance with his gun?«»Bah! diable, no, Meester Deeck,« replied the Frenchman; »we give, in France, no liberty, except to de ladi.«»Yes, yes, to the women, I know,« said Richard; »that is your Sallick law.I read, sir, all kinds of books; of France, as well as England; of Greece, as well as Rome.But if I were in 'duke's place, I would stick up advertisements, to-morrow morning, forbidding all persons to shoot, or trespass, in any manner, on my woods.I could write such an advertisement myself, in an hour, as would put a stop to the thing at once.«»Richart,« said Major Hartmann, very coolly knocking the ashes from his pipe into the spitting-box by his side, »now listen: I have livet seventy-five years on ter Mohawk, and in ter woots.– You hat petter mettle as mit ter deyvel, as mit ter hunters.Tey live mit ter gun, and a rifle is petter as ter law [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]