his behalf has overcome thy discretion.«
    »Yes, he is my friend,« cried Edwards, »and I glory in the title. He is
simple, unlettered, even ignorant; prejudiced, perhaps, though I feel that his
opinion of the world is too true; but he has a heart, Judge Temple, that would
atone for a thousand faults; he knows his friends, and never deserts them, even
if it be his dog.«
    »This is a good character, Mr. Edwards,« returned Marmaduke, mildly; »but I
have never been so fortunate as to secure his esteem, for to me he has been
uniformly repulsive; yet I have endured it, as an old man's whim. However, when
he appears before me, as his judge, he shall find that his former conduct shall
not aggravate, any more than his recent services shall extenuate his crime.«
    »Crime!« echoed Edwards; »is it a crime to drive a prying miscreant from his
door? Crime! Oh! no, sir; if there be a criminal involved in this affair, it is
not he.«
    »And who may it be, sir?« asked Judge Temple, facing the agitated youth, his
features settled to their usual composure.
    This appeal was more than the young man could bear. Hitherto he had been
deeply agitated by his emotions; but now the volcano burst its boundaries.
    »Who! and this to me!« he cried; »ask your own conscience, Judge Temple.
Walk to that door, sir, and look out upon the valley, that placid lake, and
those dusky mountains, and say to your own heart, if heart you have, whence came
these riches, this vale, and those hills, and why am I their owner? I should
think, sir, that the appearance of Mohegan and the Leather-stocking, stalking
through the country, impoverished and forlorn, would wither your sight.«
    Marmaduke heard this burst of passion, at first, with deep amazement; but
when the youth had ended, he beckoned to his impatient daughter for silence, and
replied -
    »Oliver Edwards, thou forgettest in whose presence thou standest. I have
heard, young man, that thou claimest descent from the native owners of the soil;
but surely thy education has been given thee to no effect, if it has not taught
thee the validity of the claims that have transferred the title to the whites.
These lands are mine by the very grants of thy ancestry, if thou art so
descended;