The remainder of the men, and, indeed, all the rest of the articles
in the chest, were to be kept out of view, and to be resorted to
only as a last appeal. As soon as these preliminaries were settled,
everything but those intended for the bribe was carefully replaced
in the chest, all the covers were 'tucked in' as they had been found,
and it was quite possible, could Hutter have been put in possession
of the castle again, that he might have passed the remainder of
his days in it without even suspecting the invasion that had been
made on the privacy of the chest. The rent pistol would have been
the most likely to reveal the secret, but this was placed by the
side of its fellow, and all were pressed down as before, some half
a dozen packages in the bottom of the chest not having been opened
at all. When this was done the lid was lowered, the padlocks
replaced, and the key turned. The latter was then replaced in the
pocket from which it had been taken.
More than an hour was consumed in settling the course proper to
be pursued, and in returning everything to its place. The pauses
to converse were frequent, and Judith, who experienced a lively
pleasure in the open, undisguised admiration with which Deerslayer's
honest eyes gazed at her handsome face, found the means to prolong
the interview, with a dexterity that seems to be innate in female
coquetry.
Pages:
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370
371
372
373
374
375
376
377
378
379
380
381
382