We must draw near
the rock on a calculation, and indivor to get the miscreants on a
false scent. The Mingos have good noses, they tell me; but a white
man's reason ought always to equalize their instinct."
Judith now entered into a desultory discourse with Deerslayer, in
which the girl betrayed her growing interest in the young man; an
interest that his simplicity of mind and her decision of character,
sustained as it was by the consciousness awakened by the consideration
her personal charms so universally produced, rendered her less
anxious to conceal than might otherwise have been the case. She
was scarcely forward in her manner, though there was sometimes a
freedom in her glances that it required all the aid of her exceeding
beauty to prevent from awakening suspicions unfavorable to her
discretion, if not to her morals. With Deerslayer, however, these
glances were rendered less obnoxious to so unpleasant a construction;
for she seldom looked at him without discovering much of the
sincerity and nature that accompany the purest emotions of woman.
It was a little remarkable that, as his captivity lengthened,
neither of the girls manifested any great concern for her father;
but, as has been said already, their habits gave them confidence,
and they looked forward to his liberation, by means of a ransom,
with a confidence that might, in a great degree, account for their
apparent indifference.
Pages:
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243