, taking
especial care that one of the triumvirate shall be the progenitor of any of the
same name who may happen to be better furnished with worldly gear than
themselves. But, here, all are equal who know how to conduct themselves with
propriety; and Oliver Edwards comes into my family, on a footing with both the
High Sheriff and the Judge.«
    »Well, 'duke, I call this democracy, not republicanism; but I say nothing;
only let him keep within the law, or I shall show him, that the freedom of even
this country is under wholesome restraint.«
    »Surely, Dickon, you will not execute till I condemn! But what says Bess to
the new inmate. We must pay a deference to the ladies, in this matter, after
all.«
    »Oh! sir,« returned Elizabeth, »I believe I am much like a certain Judge
Temple, in this particular; not easily to be turned from my opinion. But, to be
serious, although I must think the introduction of a demi-savage into the family
a somewhat startling event, whomsoever you think proper to countenance, may be
sure of my respect.«
    The Judge drew her arm more closely in his own, and smiled, while Richard
led the way through the gate of the little court-yard in the rear of the
dwelling, dealing out his ambiguous warnings, with his accustomed loquacity.
    On the other hand, the foresters, for the three hunters, notwithstanding
their difference in character, well deserved this common name, pursued their
course along the skirts of the village in silence. It was not until they had
reached the lake, and were moving over its frozen surface, towards the foot of
the mountain, where the hut stood, that the youth exclaimed -
    »Who could have foreseen this, a month since! I have consented to serve
Marmaduke Temple! to be an inmate in the dwelling of the greatest enemy of my
race! yet what better could I do? The servitude cannot be long, and when the
motive for submitting to it ceases to exist, I will shake it off, like the dust
from my feet.«
    »Is he a Mingo, that you will call him enemy?« said Mohegan. »The Delaware
warrior sits still, and waits the time of the Great Spirit. He is no woman, to
cry out like a child.«
    »Well, I'm mistrustful, John,« said Leather-stocking, in whose air there had
been, during the whole business, a strong expression of doubt and uncertainty
