gray had lighted the east, and even the youngest of the erratic brood
seemed conscious that the moment had arrived when circumstances were about to
transpire that might leave a lasting impression on the wild fortunes of their
semi-barbarous condition.
    Ishmael moved through his little encampment with the seriousness of one who
had been unexpectedly charged with matters of a gravity, exceeding any of the
ordinary occurrences of his irregular existence. His sons, however, who had so
often found occasions to prove the inexorable severity of their father's
character, saw, in his sullen mien and cold eye rather a determination to adhere
to his resolutions, which usually were as obstinately enforced as they were
harshly conceived, than any evidences of wavering or doubt. Even Esther was
sensibly affected by the important matters that pressed so heavily on the
interests of her family. While she neglected none of those domestic offices,
which would probably have proceeded under any conceivable circumstances, just as
the world turns round with earthquakes rending its crust, and volcanoes
consuming its vitals, yet her voice was pitched to a lower and more foreboding
key than common, and the still frequent chidings of her children were tempered
by something like the milder dignity of parental authority.
    Abiram, as usual, seemed the one most given to solicitude and doubt. There
were certain misgivings in the frequent glances that he turned on the unyielding
countenance of Ishmael, which might have betrayed how little of their former
confidence and good-understanding existed between them. His looks appeared to be
vacillatory between hope and fear. At times his countenance lighted with the
gleamings of a sordid joy, as he bent his look on the tent which contained his
recovered prisoner, and then, again, the impression seemed unaccountably chased
away by the shadows of intense apprehension. When under the influence of the
latter feeling, his eye never failed to seek the visage of his dull and
impenetrable kinsman. But there he rather found reason for alarm than grounds of
encouragement, for the whole character of the squatter's countenance expressed
the fearful truth that he had redeemed his dull faculties from the influence of
the kidnapper, and that his thoughts were now brooding only on the achievement
of his own stubborn intentions.
    It was in this state of things that the sons of Ishmael, in obedience to an
order from their father, conducted the several subjects of his contemplated
decisions from their places of confinement into the open air. No one was
exempted from this arrangement. Middleton and Inez, Paul and Ellen, Obed and the
trapper were all brought forth, and placed in situations that were deemed
suitable to receive the sentence of their arbitrary judge