mean; it is hid, now; but certainly I saw a canoe stealing
behind the logs!"

"I've seen it some time," Hetty quietly answered, for the Indians had
few terrors for her, "but I didn't think it right to talk about such
things over mother's grave! The canoe came from the camp, Judith,
and was paddled by a single man. He seemed to be Deerslayer, and no
Iroquois."

"Deerslayer!" returned the other, with much of her native
impetuosity-"That cannot be! Deerslayer is a prisoner, and I have
been thinking of the means of setting him free. Why did you fancy it
Deerslayer, child?"

"You can look for yourself, sister, for there comes the canoe in sight,
again, on this side of the hut."

Sure enough, the light boat had passed the building, and was now
steadily advancing towards the Ark; the persons on board of which were
already collecting in the head of the scow to receive their visitor. A
single glance sufficed to assure Judith that her sister was right, and
that Deerslayer was alone in the canoe. His approach was so calm and
leisurely, however, as to fill her with wonder, since a man who had
effected his escape from enemies by either artifice or violence, would
not be apt to move with the steadiness and deliberation with which his
paddle swept the water. By this time the day was fairly departing, and
objects were already seen dimly under the shores. In the broad lake,
however, the light still lingered, and around the immediate scene of the
present incidents, which was less shaded than most of the sheet, being
in its broadest part, it cast a glow that bore some faint resemblance to
the warm tints of an Italian or Grecian sunset. The logs of the hut and
Ark had a sort of purple hue, blended with the growing obscurity, and
the bark of the hunter's boat was losing its distinctness in colours
richer, but more mellowed, than those it showed under a bright sun.
As the two canoes approached each other--for Judith and her sister had
plied their paddles so as to intercept the unexpected visiter ere
he reached the Ark--even Deerslayer's sun-burned countenance wore a
brighter aspect than common, under the pleasing tints that seemed to
dance in the atmosphere. Judith fancied that delight at meeting her had
some share in this unusual and agreeable expression. She was not aware
that her own beauty appeared to more advantage than common, from the
same natural cause, nor did she understand what it would have given her
so much pleasure to know