a host of savages behind these stout
logs, and they without any cover to skulk into," added Hutter, when he
had explained to his guests the reasons why he forbade the use of light;
"for I've three or four trusty weapons always loaded, and Killdeer, in
particular, is a piece that never misses. But it's a different thing at
night. A canoe might get upon us unseen, in the dark; and the savages
have so many cunning ways of attacking, that I look upon it as bad
enough to deal with 'em under a bright sun. I built this dwelling in
order to have 'em at arm's length, in case we should ever get to
blows again. Some people think it's too open and exposed, but I'm for
anchoring out here, clear of underbrush and thickets, as the surest
means of making a safe berth."

"You was once a sailor, they tell me, old Tom?" said Hurry, in his
abrupt manner, struck by one or two expressions that the other had just
used, "and some people believe you could give us strange accounts of
inimies and shipwrecks, if you'd a mind to come out with all you know?"

"There are people in this world, Hurry," returned the other, evasively,
"who live on other men's thoughts; and some such often find their way
into the woods. What I've been, or what I've seen in youth, is of less
matter now than what the savages are. It's of more account to find out
what will happen in the next twenty-four hours than to talk over what
happened twenty-four years since."

"That's judgment, Deerslayer; yes, that's sound judgment. Here's Judith
and Hetty to take care of, to say nothing of our own top-knots; and, for
my part, I can sleep as well in the dark as I could under a noonday sun.
To me it's no great matter whether there is light or not, to see to shut
my eyes by."

As Deerslayer seldom thought it necessary to answer his companion's
peculiar vein of humor, and Hutter was evidently indisposed to dwell
longer on the subject, it's discussion ceased with this remark. The
latter had something more on his mind, however, than recollections. His
daughters had no sooner left them, with an expressed intention of going
to bed, than he invited his two companions to follow him again into the
scow. Here the old man opened his project, keeping back the portion that
he had reserved for execution by Hurry and himself.

"The great object for people posted like ourselves is to command the
water," he commenced. "So long as there is no other craft on the lake,
a bark canoe is as good as a