If it was a point of honor with the Indian warrior to redeem his
word, when pledged to return and meet his death at a given hour,
so was it a point of characteristic pride to show no womanish
impatience, but to reappear as nearly as possible at the appointed
moment. It was well not to exceed the grace accorded by the
generosity of the enemy, but it was better to meet it to a minute.
Something of this dramatic effect mingles with most of the graver
usages of the American aborigines, and no doubt, like the prevalence
of a similar feeling among people more sophisticated and refined,
may be referred to a principle of nature. We all love the wonderful,
and when it comes attended by chivalrous self-devotion and a rigid
regard to honor, it presents itself to our admiration in a shape
doubly attractive. As respects Deerslayer, though he took a pride
in showing his white blood, by often deviating from the usages of
the red-men, he frequently dropped into their customs, and oftener
into their feelings, unconsciously to himself, in consequence of
having no other arbiters to appeal to, than their judgments and
tastes. On the present occasion, he would have abstained from
betraying a feverish haste by a too speedy return, since it would
have contained a tacit admission that the time asked for was more
than had been wanted; but, on the other hand, had the idea occurred
to him, he would have quickened his movements a little, in order to
avoid the dramatic appearance of returning at the precise instant
set as the utmost limit of his absence.
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