oment,
as I would risk in behalf of Hist, and that is sayin' as much as I can
say of any darter of woman. I do not think I feel towards either--mind I
say either, Judith--as if I wished to quit father and mother--if father
and mother was livin', which, howsever, neither is--but if both was
livin', I do not feel towards any woman as if I wish'd to quit 'em in
order to cleave unto her."

"This is enough!" answered Judith, in a rebuked and smothered voice.
"I understand all that you mean. Marry you cannot with loving, and that
love you do not feel for me. Make no answer, if I am right, for I shall
understand your silence. That will be painful enough of itself."

Deerslayer obeyed her, and he made no reply. For more than a minute, the
girl riveted her bright eyes on him as if to read his soul, while he
was playing with the water like a corrected school boy. Then Judith,
herself, dropped the end of her paddle, and urged the canoe away from
the spot, with a movement as reluctant as the feelings which controlled
it. Deerslayer quietly aided the effort, however, and they were soon on
the trackless line taken by the Delaware.

In their way to the point, not another syllable was exchanged between
Deerslayer and his fair companion. As Judith sat in the bow of the
canoe, her back was turned towards him, else it is probable the
expression of her countenance might have induced him to venture some
soothing terms of friendship and regard. Contrary to what would have
been expected, resentment was still absent, though the colour frequently
changed from the deep flush of mortification to the paleness of
disappointment. Sorrow, deep, heart-felt sorrow, however, was the
predominant emotion, and this was betrayed in a manner not to be
mistaken.

As neither labored hard at the paddle, the ark had already arrived
and the soldiers had disembarked before the canoe of the two loiterers
reached the point. Chingachgook had preceded it, and was already some
distance in the wood, at a spot where the two trails, that to the
garrison and that to the villages of the Delawares, separated. The
soldiers, too, had taken up their line of march, first setting the Ark
adrift again, with a reckless disregard of its fate. All this Judith
saw, but she heeded it not. The glimmerglass had no longer any charms
for her, and when she put her foot on the strand, she immediately
proceeded on the trail of the soldiers without casting a single glance
behind her. Even