cabin of logs, built against the foot of a
rock, and bearing the marks of a tenant, though I found no one within it. -«
    »It was the hut of Leather-stocking,« said Edwards, quickly.
    »It was; though I, at first, supposed it to be a habitation of the Indians.
But while I was lingering around the spot, Natty made his appearance, staggering
under the carcass of a buck that he had slain. Our acquaintance commenced at
that time; before, I had never heard that such a being tenanted the woods. He
launched his bark canoe, and set me across the foot of the lake, to the place
where I had fastened my horse, and pointed out a spot where he might get a
scanty browsing until the morning; when I returned and passed the night in the
cabin of the hunter.«
    Miss Temple was so much struck by the deep attention of young Edwards,
during this speech, that she forgot to resume her interrogatories; but the youth
himself continued the discourse, by asking -
    »And how did the Leather-stocking discharge the duties of a host, sir?«
    »Why, simply but kindly, until late in the evening, when he discovered my
name and object, and the cordiality of his manner very sensibly diminished, or,
I might better say, disappeared. He considered the introduction of the settlers
as an innovation on his rights, I believe; for he expressed much dissatisfaction
at the measure, though it was in his confused and ambiguous manner. I hardly
understood his objections myself, but supposed they referred chiefly to an
interruption of the hunting.«
    »Had you then purchased the estate, or were you examining it with an intent
to buy?« asked Edwards, a little abruptly.
    »It had been mine for several years. It was with a view to people the land
that I visited the lake. Natty treated me hospitably, but coldly, I thought,
after he learnt the nature of my journey. I slept on his own bear-skin, however,
and in the morning joined my surveyors again.«
    »Said he nothing of the Indian rights, sir? The Leather-stocking is much
given to impeach the justice of the tenure by which the whites hold the
country.«
    »I remember that he spoke of them, but I did not clearly comprehend him, and
may have forgotten what he said; for the Indian title was extinguished so far
back as the close of the old war; and if it had not been at all, I hold