hat she dreaded with
a horror as vivid as the distinctness with which she fancied she foresaw
it. This motive, however, raised her above all common considerations,
and she persevered even to her own surprise, if not to her great
confusion.

"I will--I must deal as plainly with you, as I would with poor, dear
Hetty, were that sweet child living!" she continued, turning pale
instead of blushing, the high resolution by which she was prompted
reversing the effect that such a procedure would ordinarily produce on
one of her sex; "yes, I will smother all other feelings, in the one that
is now uppermost! You love the woods and the life that we pass, here, in
the wilderness, away from the dwellings and towns of the whites."

"As I loved my parents, Judith, when they was living! This very spot
would be all creation to me, could this war be fairly over, once; and
the settlers kept at a distance."

"Why quit it, then? It has no owner--at least none who can claim
a better right than mine, and that I freely give to you. Were it a
kingdom, Deerslayer, I think I should delight to say the same. Let us
then return to it, after we have seen the priest at the fort, and never
quit it again, until God calls us away to that world where we shall find
the spirits of my poor mother and sister."

A long, thoughtful pause succeeded; Judith here covered her face with
both her hands, after forcing herself to utter so plain a proposal, and
Deerslayer musing equally in sorrow and surprise, on the meaning of
the language he had just heard. At length the hunter broke the silence,
speaking in a tone that was softened to gentleness by his desire not to
offend.

"You haven't thought well of this, Judith," he said, "no, your feelin's
are awakened by all that has lately happened, and believin' yourself to
be without kindred in the world, you are in too great haste to find some
to fill the places of them that's lost."

"Were I living in a crowd of friends, Deerslayer, I should still think
as I now think--say as I now say," returned Judith, speaking with her
hands still shading her lovely face.

"Thank you, gal--thank you, from the bottom of my heart. Howsever, I
am not one to take advantage of a weak moment, when you're forgetful of
your own great advantages, and fancy 'arth and all it holds is in this
little canoe. No--no--Judith, 'twould be onginerous in me; what you've
offered can never come to pass!"

"It all may be, and that without leaving ca