That Hist so felt it, was apparent by the spirit
betrayed in her answer.
"Who has ever heard the name of a young Delaware?" she repeated
earnestly. "Tamenund, himself, though now as old as the pines on
the hill, or as the eagles in the air, was once young; his name
was heard from the great salt lake to the sweet waters of the west.
What is the family of Uncas? Where is another as great, though the
pale-faces have ploughed up its grates, and trodden on its bones?
Do the eagles fly as high, is the deer as swift or the panther as
brave? Is there no young warrior of that race? Let the Huron maidens
open their eyes wider, and they may see one called Chingachgook,
who is as stately as a young ash, and as tough as the hickory."
As the girl used her figurative language and told her companions
to "open their eyes, and they would see" the Delaware, Deerslayer
thrust his fingers into the sides of his friend, and indulged in a
fit of his hearty, benevolent laughter. The other smiled; but the
language of the speaker was too flattering, and the tones of her
voice too sweet for him to be led away by any accidental coincidence,
however ludicrous. The speech of Hist produced a retort, and the
dispute, though conducted in good-humour, and without any of the
coarse violence of tone and gesture that often impairs the charms
of the sex in what is called civilized life, grew warm and slightly
clamorous.
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