. The younger children
gathered around the spot, in momentary but engrossing curiosity, and even Esther
quitted her culinary labors and drew nigh to listen.
    Hard-Heart, alone, of all his band, was present to witness the novel and far
from unimposing spectacle. He stood leaning gravely on his lance, while the
smoking steed, that grazed nigh, showed that he had ridden far and hard to be a
spectator, on the occasion.
    Ishmael had received his new ally with a coldness that showed his entire
insensibility to that delicacy, which had induced the young chief to come alone,
in order that the presence of his warriors might not create uneasiness, or
distrust. He neither courted their assistance, nor dreaded their enmity, and he
now proceeded to the business of the hour, with as much composure as if the
species of patriarchal power he wielded was universally recognized.
    There is something elevating in the possession of authority, however it may
be abused. The mind is apt to make some efforts to prove the fitness between its
qualities and the condition of its owner, though it may often fail, and render
that ridiculous which was only hated before. But the effect on Ishmael Bush was
not so disheartening. Grave in exterior, saturnine by temperament, formidable by
his physical means and dangerous from his lawless obstinacy, his
self-constituted tribunal excited a degree of awe, to which even the intelligent
Middleton could not bring himself to be entirely insensible. Little time,
however, was given to arrange his thoughts; for the squatter though unaccustomed
to haste, having previously made up his mind, was not disposed to waste the
moments in delay. When he saw that all were in their places, he cast a dull look
over his prisoners, and addressed himself to the Captain as the principal man
among the imaginary delinquents.
    »I am called upon, this day, to fill the office, which in the settlements
you give unto judges who are set apart to decide on matters that arise between
man and man. I have but little knowledge of the ways of the courts, though there
is a rule that is known unto all, and which teaches that an eye must be returned
for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. I am no troubler of County houses, and least
of all do I like living on a plantation that the sheriff has surveyed, yet there
is a reason in such a law that makes it a safe rule to journey by, and therefore
it ar' a solemn fact, that this day shall I abide by it, and give unto all and
each, that which
