Deerslayer (Barnes & Noble Classics Series)

by James Fenimore Cooper

  “Stop, Deerslayer,” exclaimed the girl, as he was about to withdraw ; “not a single thing will I touch—I will not even raise the lid—unless you are present. Father and Hetty have seen fit to keep the inside of this chest a secret from me, and I am much too proud to pry into their hidden treasures, unless it were for their own good. But on no account will I open the chest alone. Stay with me, then; I want witnesses of what I do.”

  “I rather think, Sarpent, that the gal is right! Confidence and reliance beget security, but suspicion is like to make us all wary Judith has a right to ask us to be present; and should the chist hold any of Master Hutter’s secrets, they will fall into the keeping of two as closemouthed young men as are to be found. We will stay with you, Judith—but first let us take a look at the lake and the shore, for this chist will not be emptied in a minute.”

  The two men now went out on the platform, and Deerslayer swept the shore with the glass, while the Indian gravely turned his eye on the water and the woods in quest of any sign that might betray the machinations of their enemies. Nothing was visible, and assured of their temporary security, the three collected around the chest again, with the avowed object of opening it.

  Judith had held this chest, and its unknown contents, in a species of reverence as long as she could remember. Neither her father nor her mother ever mentioned it in her presence, and there appeared to be a silent convention, that in naming the different objects that occasionally stood near it, or even lay on its lid, care should be had to avoid any allusion to the chest itself. Habit rendered this so easy, and so much a matter of course, that it was only quite recently the girl had begun even to muse on the singularity of the circumstance. But there had never been sufficient intimacy between Hutter and his eldest daughter to invite confidence. At times he was kind, but in general, with her more especially, he was stern and morose. Least of all had his authority been exercised in a way to embolden his child to venture on the liberty she was about to take, without many misgivings of the consequences, although the liberty proceeded from a desire to serve himself. Then Judith was not altogether free from a little superstition on the subject of this chest, which had stood a sort of tabooed relic before her eyes from childhood to the present hour. Nevertheless, the time had come when it would seem that this mystery was to be explained, and that under circumstances, too, which left her very little choice in the matter.

  Finding that both her companions were watching her movements in grave silence, Judith placed a hand on the lid, and endeavored to raise it. Her strength, however, was insufficient, and it appeared to the girl, who was fully aware that all the fastenings were removed, that she was resisted in an unhallowed attempt by some supernatural power.

  “I cannot raise the lid, Deerslayer,” she said; “had we not better give up the attempt, and find some other means of releasing the prisoners?”

  “Not so, Judith; not so, gal. No means are as sartain and easy as a good bribe,” answered the other. “As for the lid, ’tis held by nothing but its own weight, which is prodigious for so small a piece of wood, loaded with iron as it is.”

  As Deerslayer spoke, he applied his own strength to the effort, and succeeded in raising the lid against the timbers of the house, where he took care to secure it by a sufficient prop. Judith fairly trembled, as she cast her first glance at the interior; and she felt a temporary relief in discovering that a piece of canvas that was carefully tucked in around the edges effectually concealed all beneath it. The chest was apparently well stored, however, the canvas lying within an inch of the lid.

  “Here’s a full cargo,” said Deerslayer, eyeing the arrangement; “and we had needs go to work leisurely, and at our ease. Sarpent, bring some stools, while I spread this blanket on the floor, and then we’ll begin work orderly and in comfort.”

  The Delaware complied; Deerslayer civilly placed a stool for Judith, took one himself, and commenced the removal of the canvas covering. This was done deliberately, and in as cautious a manner as if it were believed that fabrics of a delicate construction lay hidden beneath. When the canvas was removed, the first articles that came in view were some of the habiliments of the male sex. These were of fine materials, and, according to the fashions of the age, were gay in colors and rich in ornaments. One coat, in particular, was of scarlet, and had buttonholes worked in gold thread. Still it was not military, but was part of the attire of a civilian of condition, at a period when social rank was rigidly respected in dress. Chingachgook could not refrain from an exclamation of pleasure, as soon as Deerslayer opened this coat, and held it up to view; for, notwithstanding all his trained self-command, the splendor of the vestment was too much for the philosophy of an Indian. Deerslayer turned quickly, and he regarded his friend with a momentary displeasure, as this burst of weakness escaped him; and then he soliloquized, as was his practice whenever any strong feeling suddenly got the ascendency.

  “ ’Tis his gift—yes, ’tis the gift of a redskin to love finery, and he is not to be blamed. This is an extr‘ornary garment, too; and extr’ ornary things get up extr’ornary feelin’s. I think this will do, Judith, for the Indian heart is hardly to be found in all America that can withstand colors like these and glitter like that. If this coat was ever made for your father, you’ve come honestly by the taste for finery, you have.”

  “That coat was never made for father,” answered the girl, quickly; “it is much too long; while father is short and square.”

  “Cloth was plenty, if it was, and glitter cheap,” answered Deerslayer, with his silent, joyous laugh. “Sarpent, this garment was made for a man of your size, and I should like to see it on your shoulders.”

  Chingachgook, nothing loath, submitted to the trial; throwing aside the coarse and threadbare jacket of Hutter, to deck his person in a coat that was originally intended for a gentleman. The transformation was ludicrous; but as men are seldom struck with incongruities in their own appearance any more than in their own conduct, the Delaware studied this change in a common glass, by which Hutter was in the habit of shaving, with grave interest. At that moment he thought of Hist, and we owe it to truth to say, though it may militate a little against the stem character of a warrior to own it, that he wished he could be seen by her in his present improved aspect.

  “Off with it, Sarpent—off with it,” resumed the inflexible Deerslayer ; “such garments as little become you as they would become me. Your gifts are for paint, and hawk’s feathers, and blankets, and wampum; and mine are for doublets of skins, tough leggings, and sarviceable moccasins. I say moccasins, Judith, for though white, living as I do in the woods, it’s necessary to take to some of the practyces of the woods, for comfort’s sake and cheapness.”

  “I see no reason, Deerslayer, why one man may not wear a scarlet coat as well as another,” returned the girl. “I wish I could see you in this handsome garment.”

  “See me in a coat fit for a lord! Well, Judith, if you wait till that day, you’ll wait until you see me beyond reason and memory. No—no—gal, my gifts are my gifts, and I’ll live and die in ’em, though I never bring down another deer or spear another salmon. What have I done that you should wish to see me in such a flaunting coat, Judith?”

  “Because I think, Deerslayer, that the false-tongued and falsehearted young gallants of the garrison ought not alone to appear in fine feathers; but that truth and honesty have their claims to be honored and exalted.”

  “And what exaltification”—the reader will have remarked that Deerslayer had not very critically studied his dictionary—“And what exaltification would it be to me, Judith, to be bedizened and bescarleted like a Mingo chief that has just got his presents up from Quebec ? No—no—I’m well as I am; and if not, I can be no better. Lay the coat down on the blanket, Sarpent, and let us look further into the chist.”

  The tempting garment, one surely that was never intended for Hutter, was laid aside, and the examination proceeded. The male attire, all of which corresponded with the coat in quality, was so
on exhausted, and then succeeded female. A beautiful dress of brocade, a little the worse from negligent treatment, followed; and this time open exclamations of delight escaped the lips of Judith. Much as the girl had been addicted to dress, and favorable as had been her opportunities of seeing some little pretension in that way, among the wives of the different commandants, and other ladies of the forts, never before had she beheld a tissue, or tints to equal those that were now so unexpectedly placed before her eyes. Her rapture was almost childish! nor would she allow the inquiry to proceed until she had attired her person in a robe so unsuited to her habits and her abode. With this end, she withdrew into her own room, where, with hands practiced in such offices, she soon got rid of her own neat gown of linen, and stood forth in the gay tints of the brocade. The dress happened to fit the fine, full person of Judith, and certainly it never adorned a being better qualified by natural gifts to do credit to its really rich hues and fine texture. When she returned, both Deerslayer and Chingachgook, who had passed the brief time of her absence in taking a second look at the male garments, arose in surprise, each permitting exclamations of wonder and pleasure to escape him, in a way so unequivocal as to add new luster to the eyes of Judith, by flushing her cheeks with a glow of triumph. Affecting, however, not to notice the impression she had made, the girl seated herself with the stateliness of a queen, desiring that the chest might be looked into further.

  “I don’t know a better way to treat with the Mingos, gal,” cried Deerslayer, “than to send you ashore as you be, and to tell ‘em that a queen has arrived among ’em! They’ll give up old Hutter and Harry, and Hetty too, at such a spectacle!”3

  “I thought your tongue too honest to flatter, Deerslayer,” returned the girl, gratified at this admiration more than she would have cared to own. “One of the chief reasons of my respect for you was your love for truth.”

  “And ’tis truth and solemn truth, Judith, and nothing else. Never did eyes of mine gaze on as glorious a lookin’ creatur’ as you be yourself, at this very moment. I’ve seen beauties in my time, too, both white and red; and them that was renowned and talked of far and near; but never have I beheld one that could hold any comparison with what you are at this blessed instant, Judith—never.”

  The glance of delight which the girl bestowed on the frank-speaking hunter in no degree lessened the effect of her charms; and as the humid eyes blended with it a look of sensibility, perhaps Judith never appeared more truly lovely than at what the young man had called that “blessed instant.” He shook his head, held it suspended a moment over the open chest like one in doubt, and then proceeded with the examination.

  Several of the minor articles of female dress came next, all of a quality to correspond with the gown. These were laid at Judith’s feet, in silence, as if she had a natural claim to their possession. One or two, such as gloves and laces, the girl caught up and appended to her already rich attire, in affected playfulness, but with the real design of decorating her person as far as circumstances would allow. When these two remarkable suits, male and female they might be termed, were removed, another canvas covering separated the remainder of the articles from the part of the chest which they had occupied. As soon as Deerslayer perceived this arrangement, he paused, doubtful of the propriety of proceeding any further.

  “Every man has his secrets, I suppose,” he said, “and all men have a right to their enj’yment; we’ve got low enough in this chist, in my judgment, to answer our wants, and it seems to me we should do well by going no further; and by letting Master Hutter have to himself and his own feelin’s all that’s beneath this cover.”

  “Do you mean, Deerslayer, to offer these clothes to the Iroquois as ransom?” demanded Judith, quickly.

  “Sartain. What are we prying into another man’s chist for, but to sarve its owner in the best way we can? This coat, alone, would be very apt to gain over the head chief of the riptyles; and if his wife or darter should happen to be out with him, that there gownd would soften the heart of any woman that is to be found atween Albany and Montreal. I do not see that we want a larger stock in trade than them two articles.”

  “To you it may seem so, Deerslayer,” returned the disappointed girl; “but of what use could a dress like this be to any Indian woman? She could not wear it among the branches of the trees; the dirt and smoke of the wigwam would soon soil it; and how would a pair of red arms appear thrust through these short, laced sleeves!”

  “All very true, gal; and you might go on and say, it is altogether out of time, and place, and season, in this region at all. What is it to us how the finery is treated, so long as it answers our wishes? I do not see that your father can make any use of such clothes; and it’s lucky he has things that are of no valie to himself that will bear a high price with others. We can make no better trade for him than to offer these duds for his liberty We’ll throw in the light frivol’ties, and get Hurry off in the bargain!”

  “Then you think, Deerslayer, that Thomas Hutter has no one in his family—no child—no daughter, to whom this dress may be thought becoming, and whom you could wish to see in it once and a while, even though it should be at long intervals, and only in playfulness?”

  “I understand you, Judith—yes, I now understand your meaning ; and I think I can say, your wishes. That you are as glorious in that dress as the sun when it rises or sets in a soft October day, I’m ready to allow; and that you greatly become it is a good deal more sartain than that it becomes you. There’s gifts in clothes as well as in other things. Now I do not think that a warrior on his first path ought to lay on the same awful paints as a chief that has had his vartue tried, and knows from exper’ence he will not disgrace his pretensions. So it is with all of us, red or white. You are Thomas Hutter’s darter, and that gownd was made for the child of some governor, or a lady of high station; and it was intended to be worn among fine furniture and in rich company In my eyes, Judith, a modest maiden never looks more becoming than when becomingly clad, and nothing is suitable that is out of character. Besides, gal, if there’s a creatur’ in the colony that can afford to do without finery, and to trust to her own good looks and sweet countenance, it’s yourself.”

  “I’ll take off the rubbish this instant, Deerslayer,” cried the girl, springing up to leave the room; “and never do I wish to see it on any human being again.”

  “So it is with ‘em all, Sarpent,” said the other, turning to his friend and laughing, as soon as the beauty had disappeared. “They like finery, but they like their natyve charms most of all. I’m glad the gal has consented to lay aside her furbelows, howsever, for it’s ag’in reason for one of her class to wear em; and then she is handsome enough, as I call it, to go alone. Hist would show oncommon likely, too, in such a gownd, Delaware!”

  “Wah-ta-Wah is a redskin girl, Deerslayer,” returned the Indian; “like the young of the pigeon she is to be known by her own feathers. I should pass by without knowing her, were she dressed in such a skin. It’s wisest always to be so clad that our friends need not ask us for our name. The Wild Rose is very pleasant, but she is no sweeter for so many colors.”

  “That’s it!—that’s natur‘, and the true foundation for love and protection. When a man stops to pick a wild strawberry, he does not expect to find a melon; and when he wishes to gather a melon, he’s disapp’inted if it proves to be a squash; though squashes be often brighter to the eye than melons. That’s it, and it means, stick to your gifts and your gifts will stick to you.”

  The two men had now a little discussion together, touching the propriety of penetrating any further into the chest of Hutter, when Judith reappeared, divested of her robes, and in her own simple linen frock again.

  “Thank you, Judith,” said Deerslayer, taking her kindly by the hand; “for I know it went a little ag‘in the nat’ral cravings of woman to lay aside so much finery as it might be in a lump. But you’re more pleasing to the eye as you stand, you be, than if you had a crown on your head, and jewels dangling from
your hair. The question now is, whether to lift this covering to see what will be ra’ally the best bargain we can make for Master Hutter; for we must do as we think he would be willing to do, did he stand here in our places.”

  Judith looked very happy. Accustomed as she was to adulation, the humble homage of Deerslayer had given her more true satisfaction than she had ever yet received from the tongue of man. It was not the terms in which this admiration had been expressed, for they were simple enough, that produced so strong an impression; nor yet their novelty, or their warmth of manner, nor any of those peculiarities that usually give value to praise; but the unflinching truth of the speaker, that carried his words so directly to the heart of the listener. This is one of the great advantages of plain dealing and frankness. The habitual and wily flatterer may succeed until his practices recoil on himself, and, like other sweets, his ailment cloys by its excess; but he who deals honestly, though he often necessarily offend, possesses a power of praising that no quality but sincerity can bestow; since his words go directly to the heart, finding their support in the understanding. Thus it was with Deerslayer and Judith; so soon and so deeply did this simple hunter impress those who knew him with a conviction of his unbending honesty, that all he uttered in commendation was as certain to please, as all he uttered in the way of rebuke was as certain to rankle and excite enmity where his character had not awakened a respect and affection, that in another sense rendered it painful. In after life, when the career of this untutored being brought him in contact with officers of rank, and others intrusted with the care of the interests of the state, this same influence was exerted on a wider field; even generals listening to his commendations with a glow of pleasure that it was not always in the power of their official superiors to awaken. Perhaps Judith was the first individual of his own color who fairly submitted to this natural consequence of truth and fair-dealing, on the part of Deerslayer. She had actually pined for his praise, and she had now received it; and that in the form which was most agreeable to her weaknesses and habits of thought. The result will appear in the course of the narrative.