"
"The purchase might be cheaper made, perhaps, Deerslayer. The
chest is full, and it would be better to part with half than to
part with the whole. Besides, father- I know not why - but father
values that chest highly."
"He would seem to prize what it holds more than the chest, itself,
judging by the manner in which he treats the outside, and secures
the inside. Here are three locks, Judith; is there no key?"
"I've never seen one, and yet key there must be, since Hetty told
us she had often seen the chest opened."
"Keys no more lie in the air, or float on the water, than humans,
gal; if there is a key, there must be a place in which it is kept."
"That is true, and it might not be difficult to find it, did we
dare to search!"
"This is for you, Judith; it is altogether for you. The chist
is your'n, or your father's; and Hutter is your father, not mine.
Cur'osity is a woman's, and not a man's failing, and there you
have got all the reasons before you. If the chist has articles
for ransom, it seems to me they would be wisely used in redeeming
their owner's life, or even in saving his scalp; but that is a
matter for your judgment, and not for ourn. When the lawful owner
of a trap, or a buck, or a canoe, isn't present, his next of kin
becomes his riprisentyve by all the laws of the woods.
Pages:
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345