nd a light heart could make it; and the
other side stood one that has passed his days in the open air till his
forehead is as red as his cheek; had cut his way through swamps and
bushes till his hand was as rugged as the oaks he slept under; had
trodden on the scent of game till his step was as stealthy as the
catamount's, and had no other pleasant odor about him than such as
natur' gives in the free air and the forest--now, if both these men
stood here, as suitors for your feelin's, which do you think would win
your favor?"

Judith's fine face flushed, for the picture that her companion had
so simply drawn of a gay officer of the garrisons had once been
particularly grateful to her imagination, though experience and
disappointment had not only chilled all her affections, but given them a
backward current, and the passing image had a momentary influence on her
feelings; but the mounting colour was succeeded by a paleness so deadly,
as to make her appear ghastly.

"As God is my judge," the girl solemnly answered, "did both these men
stand before me, as I may say one of them does, my choice, if I know my
own heart, would be the latter. I have no wish for a husband who is any
way better than myself."

"This is pleasant to listen to, and might lead a young man in time to
forget his own onworthiness, Judith! Howsever, you hardly think all that
you say. A man like me is too rude and ignorant for one that has had
such a mother to teach her. Vanity is nat'ral, I do believe, but vanity
like that, would surpass reason."

"Then you do not know of what a woman's heart is capable! Rude you are
not, Deerslayer, nor can one be called ignorant that has studied what
is before his eyes as closely as you have done. When the affections are
concerned, all things appear in their pleasantest colors, and trifles
are overlooked, or are forgotten. When the heart feels sunshine, nothing
is gloomy, even dull looking objects, seeming gay and bright, and so it
would be between you and the woman who should love you, even though your
wife might happen, in some matters, to possess what the world calls the
advantage over you."

"Judith, you come of people altogether above mine, in the world, and
onequal matches, like onequal fri'ndships can't often tarminate kindly.
I speak of this matter altogether as a fanciful thing, since it's not
very likely that you, at least, would be apt to treat it as a matter
that can ever come to pass."

Judith fasten