University of Virginia Library

9. CHAPTER IX.

The apartment to which Monsieur Le Quoi
handed Elizabeth, communicated with the hall,
through the door that led under the urn which was
supposed to contain the ashes of Dido. The
room was spacious, and of very just proportions;
but in its ornaments and furniture, the same diversityof
taste, and imperfection of execution,
were to be observed, as existed in the hall. Of
furniture, there were a dozen green, wooden arm-chairs,
with cushions of moreen, taken from the
same piece as the petticoat of Remarkable. The
tables were spread, and their materials and workmanship
could not be seen; but they were heavy,
and of great size. There was an enormous glass,
in a gilt frame, hung against the wall, and a cheerful
fire, of the hard or sugar-maple, burning on
the hearth. The latter was the first object that
struck the attention of the Judge, who, on beholding
it, exclaimed, rather angrily, to Richard—

“How often have I forbidden the use of the
sugar-maple for fires, in my dwelling. The sight
of that sap, as it exudes with the heat from the

ends of those logs, is painful to me, Richard.
Really, it behooves the owner of woods so extensive
as mine, to be cautious what example he
sets to his people, who are already felling the forests,
as if no end could be found to their treasures,
nor any limits to their extent. If we go on
in this way, twenty years hence we shall want fuel.

“Fuel in these hills, cousin 'duke!” exclaimed
Richard, in derision—“fuel for our fires! why
you might as well predict, that the fish will die,
for the want of water in the lake, because I intend,
when the frost gets out of the ground, to lead one
or two of the springs, through logs, into the village.
But you are always a little wild on such
subjects, Marmaduke.”

“Is it wildness,” returned the Judge, earnestly,
“to condemn a practice, which devotes these jewels
of the forest, these precious gifts of nature,
these mines of comfort and wealth, to the common
uses of a fire-place? But I must, and will, the
instant that the snow is off the earth, send out a
party into the mountains, to explore for coal.”

“Coal!” echoed Richard; “who the devil do
you think will dig for coal, when in hunting for a
bushel, he would have to rip up more roots of
trees, than would keep him in fuel for a twelvemonth?
Poh! poh! Marmaduke, you should
leave the management of these things to me,
who have a natural turn that way. It was I that
ordered this fire, and a noble one it is, to warm
the blood in the veins of my pretty cousin Bess.”

“The motive, then, must be your apology,
Dickon,” said the Judge.—“But, gentlemen, we
are waiting. Elizabeth, my child, take the head
of the table; Richard, I see, means to spare me
the trouble of carving, by sitting opposite to
you.”

“To be sure I do,” cried Richard; “here is a
turkey to carve, and I flatter myself that I understand
carving a turkey, or, for that matter, a
goose, as well as any man alive. Mr. Grant!
where's Mr. Grant? will you please to say grace,
sir? Every thing is getting cold. Take a thing
from the fire, this cold weather, and it will freeze
in five minutes. Mr. Grant! we want you to say
grace. `For what we are about to receive, the
Lord make us thankful.' Come, sit down, sit
down. Do you eat wing or breast, cousin Bess?”

But Elizabeth had not taken her seat, nor was she
in readiness to receive either the wing or breast.
Her laughing, dark eyes, were glancing at the arrangements
of the table, and the quality and selection
of the food. The eyes of her father soon met
the wondering looks of his daughter, and he said,
with a smile—

“You perceive, my child, how much we are indebted
to Remarkable, for her skill in housewifery;
she has indeed provided a noble repast; such
as well might stop the cravings of hunger.”

“Law!” said Remarkable, “I'm glad if the
Judge is pleased; but I'm notional that you'll
find the sa'ce overdone. I thought, as Elizabeth
was coming home, that a body could do no
less than make things agreeable.”

“My daughter has now grown to woman's estate,
and is from this moment mistress of my
house,” said the Judge, sternly; “it is proper,
that all, who live with me, address her as Miss
Temple.”

“Do tell!” exclaimed Remarkable, a little
aghast; “well, who ever heerd of a young woman's
being called Miss? If the Judge had a
wife now, I shouldn't think of calling her any
thing but Miss Temple; but—”

“Having nothing but a daughter, you will observe

that style to her, if you please, in future,” interrupted
Marmaduke.

As the Judge look'd seriously displeased, and,
at such moments, carried a particularly commanding
air with him, the wary housekeeper made no
reply; and, Mr. Grant entering the room, the
whole party were soon seated at the table. As
the arrangements of this repast were much in the
prevailing taste of that period and country, we
shall endeavour to give a short description of the
appearance of the banquet.

The table-linen was of the most beautiful damask,
and the plates and dishes of real china, an
article of great luxury at this early period in
American commerce. The knives and forks were
of exquisitely polished steel, and were set in unclouded
ivory. So much being furnished by the
wealth of Marmaduke, was not only comfortable,
but even elegant. The contents of the several
dishes, and their positions, however, were the result
of the sole judgment of Remarkable. Before
Elizabeth, was placed an enormous roasted
turkey, and before Richard, one boiled. In the
centre of the table, stood a pair of heavy silver
castors, surrounded by four dishes; one a fricassee,
that consisted of gray squirrels; another of fish
fried; a third of fish boiled; the last was a venison
steak. Between these dishes and the turkeys,
stood, on the one side, a prodigious chine of
roasted bear's meat, and on the other a boiled leg of
delicious mutton. Interspersed among this load
of meats, was every species of vegetables that the
season and country afforded. The four corners
were garnished with plates of cake. On one was
piled certain curiously twisted and complicated
figures, called “nut-cakes.” On another were
heaps of a black-looking substance, which, receiving
its hue from molasses, was properly termed

“sweet-cake;” a wonderful favourite in the coterie
of Remarkable. A third was filled, to use the
language of the housekeeper, with “caards of
gingerbread;” and the last held a “plum-cake,”
so called from the number of large raisins that were
showing their black heads, in a substance of a
wonderfully similar colour. At each corner of the
table, stood saucers, filled with a thick fluid, of
somewhat equivocal colour and consistence, variegated
with small dark lumps of a substance that
resembled nothing but itself, which Remarkable
termed her “sweet-meats.” At the side of each
plate, which was placed bottom upwards, with its
knife and fork most accurately crossed above it,
stood another, of smaller size, containing a motley-looking
pie, composed of triangular slices of
apple, mince, pumpkin, craneberry, and custard,
so arranged as to form an entire whole. Decanters
of brandy, rum, gin, and wine, with sundry
pitchers of cider, beer, and one hissing vessel of
“flip,” were put wherever an opening would admit
of their introduction. Notwithstanding the
size of the tables, there was scarcely a spot where
the rich damask could be seen, so crowded were
the dishes, and their associated bottles, plates and
saucers. The object seemed to be profusion, and
it was obtained entirely at the expense of order
and elegance.

All the guests, as well as the Judge himself,
seemed perfectly familiar with this description of
fare, for each one commenced eating, with an appetite
that promised to do great honour to Remarkable's
taste and skill. What rendered this attention
to the repast a little surprising, was the fact,
that both the German and Richard had been
summoned from another table, to meet the Judge;
but Major Hartmann both ate and drank without
any rule, when on his excursions; and Mr.

Jones invariably made it a point, to participate in
the business in hand, let it be what it would. The
host seemed to think some apology necessary, for
the warmth he had betrayed on the subject of the
firewood, and when the party were comfortably
seated, and engaged with their knives and forks,
he observed—

“The wastefulness of the settlers, with the noble
trees of this country, is shocking, Monsieur
Le Quoi, as doubtless you have noticed. I have
seen a man fell a pine, when he has been in
want of fencing-stuff, and roll its first cuts into
the gap, where he left it to rot, though its top
would have made rails enough to answer his purpose,
and its butt would have sold in the Philadelphia
market for twenty dollars.”

“And how the devil—I beg your pardon, Mr.
Grant,” interrupted Richard; “but how is the
poor devil to get his logs to the Philadelphia market,
pray? put them in his pocket, ha! as you
would a handful of chesnuts, or a bunch of
chicker-berries? I should like to see you walking
up High-street, with a pine log in each pocket!—
Poh! poh! cousin 'duke, there are trees enough
for us all, and some to spare. Why I can hardly
tell which way the wind blows, when I'm out in
the clearings, they are so thick, and so tall;—I
couldn't at all, if it wasn't for the clouds, and I
happen to know all the points of the compass, as
it were, by heart.”

“Ay! ay! Squire,” cried Benjamin, who had
now entered, and taken his place behind the
Judge's chair, a little aside withal, in order to
be ready for any observation like the present;
“look aloft, sir, look aloft. The old seamen say,
`that the devil wouldn't make a sailor, unless he
look'd aloft.' As for the compass, why, there is
no such thing as steering without one. I'm

sure I never lose sight of the main-top, as I call
the Squire's look-out, but I set my compass, d'ye
see, and take the bearings and distance of things,
in order to work out my course, if-so-be that it
should cloud up, or the tops of the trees should
shut out the light of heaven. The steeple of St.
Paul's, now that we have got it on end, is a great
help to the navigation of the woods, for, by the
lord Harry, as I was”—

“It is well, Benjamin, interrupted Marmaduke,
observing his daughter, who manifested
evident displeasure at the major-domo's familiarity;
“but you forget there is a lady in company,
and the women love to do most of the talking
themselves.”

“The Judge says the true word,” cried Benjamin,
with one of his discordant laughs: “now
here is Mistress Remarkable Prettybones; just
take the stopper off her tongue, and you'll hear a
gabbling, worse like than if you should happen to
fall to leeward, in crossing a French privateer, or
some such thing, mayhap, as a dozen monkeys
stowed in one bag.”

It were impossible to say, how perfect an illustration
of the truth of Benjamin's assertion the
housekeeper would have furnished, if she dare;
but the Judge looked sternly at her, and, unwilling
to incur his resentment, yet unable to contain
her anger, she threw herself out of the room,
with a toss of her body, that nearly separated her
frail form in the centre.

“Richard” said Marmaduke, observing that
his displeasure had produced the desired effect,
“can you inform me of any thing concerning the
youth, whom I so unfortunately wounded? I
found him on the mountain hunting in company
with the Leather-stocking, as if they were of the
same family; but there is a manifest difference in

their manners. The youth delivers himself in
chosen language; such as is seldom heard in these
hills, and such as occasions great surprise to me,
how one so meanly clad, and following so lowly
a pursuit, could attain. Mohegan also knew
him. Doubtless he is a tenant of Natty's hut.
Did you notice the language of the lad, Monsieur
Le Quoi?”

“Certainement, Monsieur Templ',” returned
the Frenchman, “he deed conevairse in de most
excellent Anglaise.”

“The boy is not a miracle,” exclaimed Richard;
“I've known children that were sent to
school early, talk much better, before they were
twelve years old. There was Zareed Coe, old
Nehemiah's son, who first settled on the beaver-dam
meadow, he could write almost as good a
hand as myself, when he was fourteen; though
it's true, I helped to teach him a little, in the long
evenings. But this shooting gentleman ought to
be put in the stocks, if he ever takes a rein in his
hand again. He is the most awkward fellow
about a horse I ever met with. I dare say, he
never drove any thing but oxen in his life.”

“There I think, Dickon, you do the lad injustice,”
said the Judge; “he uses much discretion
in critical moments.—Dost thou not think so,
Bess?”

There was nothing in this question particularly
to excite the blushes of a maiden, but Elizabeth
started from the reverie into which she had fallen,
and coloured to her forehead, as she answered—

“To me, my dear sir, he appeared extremely
skilful, and prompt, and courageous; but perhaps
cousin Richard will say, I am as ignorant as the
gentleman himself.”

“Gentleman!” echoed Richard; “do you call
such chaps gentlemen, at school, Elizabeth?”

“Every man is a gentleman, who knows how
to treat a woman with respect and consideration,”
returned the young lady, promptly, and with an
air of a little dignity.

“So much for hesitating to appear before the
heiress in his shirt sleeves,” cried Richard, winking
at Monsieur Le Quoi, who returned the hint
with one eye, while he rolled the other, with an
expression of great sympathy, towards the young
lady.—“Well, well, to me he seemed any thing
but a gentleman. I must say, however, for the
lad, that he draws a good trigger, and has a true
aim. He's good at shooting a buck, ha! Marmaduke?”

“Richart,” said Major Hartmann, turning his
grave countenance towards the gentleman he addressed,
with much earnestness, “ter poy is goot.
He savet your life, and my life, and ter life of
Tominie Grant, and ter life of ter Frenchman;
and, Richart, he shall never vant a pet to sleep
in, vile olt Fritz Hartmann hast a shingle to cover
his bet mit.”

“Well, well, as you please, old gentleman,” returned
Mr. Jones, endeavouring to look excessively
indifferent; “put him into your own stone
house, if you will, Major. I dare say the lad
never slept in any thing better than a bark shanty
in his life, unless it was some such hut as the
cabin of Leather-stocking. I prophesy you will
soon spoil him; any one can see how proud he
grew, in a short time, just because he stood by my
horses' heads, while I turned them into the highway.”

“No, no, my old friend,” cried Marmaduke,
“it shall be my task, to provide in some manner
for the youth: I owe him a debt of my own, besides
the service he has done me, through my
friends. And yet I anticipate some little trouble,

in inducing him to accept of my services. He
showed a marked dislike, I thought, Bess, to my
offer of a residence within these walls for life.”

“Really, dear sir,” said Elizabeth, projecting
her beautiful under-lip, “I have not studied the
gentleman so closely, as to read his feelings in his
countenance. I thought he might very naturally
feel pain from his wound, and therefore pitied
him; but”—and as she spoke, she glanced her
eye, with a conscious timidity, towards the major-domo—“I
dare say, sir, that Benjamin can tell
you something about him. He cannot have
been in the village, and Benjamin not have seen
him often.”

“Ay! I have seen the boy before,” said Benjamin,
who wanted no other encouragement to
speak: “he has been backing and filling in the
wake of Natty Bumppo, through the mountains,
after deer, like a Dutch long-boat in tow of an
Albany sloop. He carries a good rifle too. The
Leather-stocking said, in my hearing, before Betty
Hollister's bar-room fire, no later than the
Tuesday night, that the younker was certain
death to the wild beasts. If-so-be he can kill the
wild cat, that has been heard moaning on the lake-side,
since the hard frosts and deep snows have
driven the deer to herd, he will be doing the thing
that is good. Your wild cat is a bad shipmate,
and should be made to cruise out of the track of
all christian-men.”

“Lives he in the hut of Bumppo?” asked Marmaduke,
with some interest; and the full black
eyes of Elizabeth resting intently on the scorched
visage of the steward, while she waited his reply.

“Cheek by jowl,” said Benjamin; “the Wednesday
will be three weeks since he first hove in
sight, in company with Leather-stocking. They
had captured a wolf between them, and had

brought in his scalp for the bounty. That Mister
Bump-ho has a handy turn with him, in taking off
a scalp; and there's them, in this here village,
who say he larnt the trade by working on christian-men.
If-so-be that there is truth in the saying,
and I commanded along shore here, as your
honour does, why, d'ye see, I'd bring him to the
gangway for it, yet. There's a very pretty post
riggid alongside of the stocks, and for the matter
of a cat, I can fit one with my own hands; ay!
and use it too, for the want of a better.”

“You are not to credit all the idle tales, sir,
that you hear of Natty,” said the Judge: “he has
a kind of natural right to gain a livelihood in
these mountains; and if the idlers in the village
take it into their heads to annoy him, as they
sometimes do reputed rogues, they shall find him
protected by the strong arm of the law.”

“Ter rifle is petter as ter law,” said the Major,
sententiously.

“That for his rifle!” exclaimed Richard, snapping
his fingers; “Ben is right, and I”—He
was stopped by the sounds of a common ship-bell,
that had been elevated to the belfry of the
academy, which now announced, by its incessant
ringing, that the hour for the appointed service
had arrived. “ `For this, and every other instance
of his goodness'—I beg pardon. Mr. Grant;
will you please to return thanks, sir? it is time we
should be moving, as we are the only Episcopalians
in the neighbourhood; that is, I, and Benjamin,
and Elizabeth.”

The divine arose, and performed the office,
meekly and fervently, and the whole party instantly
prepared themselves for the church—or rather
academy.