As she
approached them, the grim old warriors regarded her with pleasure,
for they had a secret pride in the hope of engrafting so rare a
scion on the stock of their own nation; adoption being as regularly
practised, and as distinctly recognized among the tribes of America,
as it ever had been among those nations that submit to the sway of
the Civil Law.
As soon as Hist was seated by the side of Hetty, the old chief
desired her to ask "the fair young pale-face" what had brought her
among the Iroquois, and what they could do to serve her.
"Tell them, Hist, who I am - Thomas Hutter's youngest daughter;
Thomas Hutter, the oldest of their two prisoners; he who owns the
castle and the Ark, and who has the best right to be thought the
owner of these hills, and that lake, since he has dwelt so long,
and trapped so long, and fished so long, among them - They'll know
whom you mean by Thomas Hutter, if you tell them, that. And then
tell them that I've come here to convince them they ought not to
harm father and Hurry, but let them go in peace, and to treat them
as brethren rather than as enemies. Now tell them all this plainly,
Hist, and fear nothing for yourself or me.
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