admitted all round, that the
enquiry into the contents of the chest ought to be renewed, Deerslayer proceeded
to remove the second covering of canvass.
    The articles that lay uppermost, when the curtain was again raised on the
secrets of the chest, were a pair of pistols, curiously inlaid with silver.
Their value would have been considerable, in one of the towns, though as
weapons, in the woods, they were a species of arms seldom employed; never,
indeed, unless it might be by some officer from Europe, who visited the
colonies, as many were then wont to do, so much impressed with the superiority
of the usages of London, as to fancy they were not to be laid aside on the
frontiers of America. What occurred on the discovery of these weapons, will
appear, in the succeeding chapter.
 

                                  Chapter XIII

 »An oaken, broken, elbow-chair;
 A caudle-cup without an ear;
 A battered, shattered ash bedstead;
 A box of deal without a lid;
 A pair of tongs, but out of joint;
 A back-sword poker, without point;
 A dish which might good meat afford once;
 An Ovid, and an old Concordance.«
                                           Thomas Sheridan, »A True and Faithful
                                             Inventory of the Goods belonging to
                                                     Dr. Swift,« ll. 1-6, 13-14.
 
No sooner did Deerslayer raise the pistols, than he turned to the Delaware and
held them up, for his admiration.
    »Child gun,« said the Serpent, smiling, while he handled one of the
instruments as if it had been a toy.
    »Not it, Sarpent; not it - t'was made for a man and would satisfy a giant,
if rightly used. But stop; white men are remarkable for their carelessness in
putting away fire arms, in chists and corners. Let me look if care has been
given to these.«
    As Deerslayer spoke, he took the weapon from the hand of his friend, and
opened the pan. The last was filled with priming, caked like a bit of cinder, by
time, moisture and compression. An application of the ramrod showed that both
the pistols were charged, although Judith could testify that they had probably
lain for years in the chest. It is not easy to portray the surprise of the
Indian, at this discovery, for he was in the practice of renewing his priming
daily, and of looking to the contents of his piece, at other short intervals.
    »This is white neglect,« said Deerslayer, shaking his head, »and scarce a
season