means no great harm, means
no great good. Even my father, following his feelings with the other, as he is
doing, at this moment, well knows the difference between you. This I know, for
he has said as much to me, in plain language.«
    Judith was a girl of quick sensibilities, and of impetuous feelings, and,
being under few of the restraints that curtail the manifestations of maiden
emotions, among those who are educated in the habits of civilized life, she
sometimes betrayed the latter with a freedom that was so purely natural, as to
place it as far above the wiles of coquetry, as it was superior to its
heartlessness. She had now even taken one of the hard hands of the hunter, and
pressed it between both her own, with a warmth and earnestness that proved how
sincere was her language. It was perhaps, fortunate that she was checked by the
very excess of her feelings since the same power might have urged her on to avow
all that her father had said, the old man not having been satisfied with making
a comparison favorable to Deerslayer, as between the hunter and Hurry, but
having actually, in his blunt rough way, briefly advised his daughter to cast
off the latter entirely, and to think of the former as a husband. Judith would
not willingly have said this to any other man, but there was so much confidence
awakened by the guileless simplicity of Deerslayer, that one of her nature found
it a constant temptation to overstep the bounds of habit. She went no farther,
however, immediately relinquishing the hand, and falling back on a reserve that
was more suited to her sex, and, indeed, to her natural modesty.
    »Thankee, Judith, thank'ee, with all my heart,« returned the hunter, whose
humility prevented him from placing any flattering interpretation on either the
conduct, or the language of the girl. »Thankee, as much as if it all was true.
Harry's sightly - yes, he's as sightly as the tallest pine of these mountains,
and the Sarpent has named him accordingly; howsever, some fancy good looks, and
some fancy good conduct, only. Hurry has one advantage, and it depends on
himself whether, he'll have the t'other or - Hark! That's your father's voice,
gal, and he speaks like a man who's riled, at something.«
    »God save us from any more of these horrible scenes!« exclaimed Judith,
bending her face to her knees, and endeavoring