and, as is usual with the vulgar and narrow-minded, he was more disposed
to reproach others with his failures, than to censure himself. Judith gave him
her hand, but it was quite as much in gladness, as with regret, while the two
Delawares were not sorry to find he was leaving them. Of the whole party, Hetty
alone betrayed any real feeling. Bashfulness, and the timidity of her sex and
character, kept even her aloof, so that Hurry entered the canoe, where
Deerslayer was already waiting for him, before she ventured near enough to be
observed. Then, indeed, the girl came into the Ark, and approached its end, just
as the little bark was turning from it, with a movement so light and steady as
to be almost imperceptible. An impulse of feeling now overcame her timidity, and
Hetty spoke.
    »Good bye, Hurry -« she called out, in her sweet voice - »good bye, dear
Hurry. Take care of yourself in the woods, and do n't stop once, 'till you reach
the garrison. The leaves on the trees are scarcely plentier than the Hurons
round the lake, and they'll not treat a strong man like you, as kindly as they
treat me.«
    The ascendency which March had obtained over this feebleminded, but
right-thinking, and right-feeling girl, arose from a law of nature. Her senses
had been captivated by his personal advantages, and her moral communications
with him had never been sufficiently intimate to counteract an effect that must
have been otherwise lessened, even with one whose mind was as obtuse as her own.
Hetty's instinct of right, if such a term can be applied to one who seemed
taught by some kind spirit how to steer her course with unerring accuracy,
between good and evil, would have revolted at Hurry's character, on a thousand
points, had there been opportunities to enlighten her, but while he conversed
and trifled with her sister, at a distance from herself, his perfection of form
and feature had been left to produce their influence on her simple imagination,
and naturally tender feelings, without suffering by the alloy of his opinions
and coarseness. It is true, she found him rough and rude; but her father was
that, and most of the other men she had seen, and that which she believed to
belong to all of the sex, struck her less unfavorably in Hurry's character, than
it might otherwise have done. Still, it was not absolutely love that Hetty felt
for Hurry, nor do