CHAPTER XXXI.
"And dar'st thou then To beard the lion in his den, The Douglas in his hall." --Marmion.
The commotion was just subsiding, and the inhabitants of the village hadbegun to disperse from the little groups that had formed, each retiringto his own home, and closing his door after him, with the grave air of aman who consulted public feeling in his exterior deportment, when OliverEdwards, on his return from the dwelling of Mr. Grant, encountered theyoung lawyer, who is known to the reader as Mr. Lippet. There was verylittle similarity in the manners or opinions of the two; but as theyboth belonged to the more intelligent class of a very small community,they were, of course, known to each other, and as their meeting was at apoint where silence would have been rudeness, the following conversationwas the result of their interview:
"A fine evening, Mr. Edwards," commenced the lawyer, whosedisinclination to the dialogue was, to say the least, very doubtful; "wewant rain sadly; that's the worst of this climate of ours, it's eithera drought or a deluge. It's likely you've been used to a more equaltemperature?"
"I am a native of this State," returned Edwards, coldly.
"Well. I've often heard that point disputed; but it's so easy to get aman naturalized, that it's of little consequence where he was born. Iwonder what course the Judge means to take in this business of NattyBumppo!"
"Of Natty Bumppo!" echoed Edwards; "to what do you allude, sir?"
"Haven't you heard!" exclaimed the other, with a look of surprise, sonaturally assumed as completely to deceive his auditor; "it may turn outan ugly business. It seems that the old man has been out in the hills,and has shot a buck this morning, and that, you know, is a criminalmatter in the eyes of Judge Temple."
"Oh! he has, has he?" said Edwards, averting his face to conceal thecolor that collected in his sunburnt cheek. "Well, if that be all, hemust even pay the fine."
"It's five pound currency," said the lawyer; "could Natty muster so muchmoney at once?"
"Could he!" cried the youth. "I am not rich, Mr. Lippet; far from it--Iam poor, and I have been hoarding my salary for a purpose that lies nearmy heart; but, be fore that old man should lie one hour in a jail, Iwould spend the last cent to prevent it. Besides, he has killed twopanthers, and the bounty will discharge the fine many times over."
"Yes, yes," said the lawyer, rubbing his hands together, with anexpression of pleasure that had no artifice about it; "we shall make itout; I see plainly we shall make it out."
"Make what out, sir? I must beg an explanation."
"Why, killing the buck is but a small matter compared to what took placethis afternoon," continued Mr. Lippet, with a confidential and friendlyair that won upon the youth, little as he liked the man. "It seems thata complaint was made of the fact, and a suspicion that there was venisonin the hut was sworn to, all which is provided for in the statute, whenJudge Temple granted the search warrant."
"A search-warrant!" echoed Edwards, in a voice of horror, and with aface that should have been again averted to conceal its paleness; "andhow much did they discover? What did they see?"
"They saw old Bumppo's rifle; and that is a sight which will quiet mostmen's curiosity in the woods."
"Did they! did they!" shouted Edwards, bursting into a convulsive laugh;"so the old hero beat them back beat them back! did he?" The lawyerfastened his eyes in astonishment on the youth, but, as his wondergave way to the thoughts that were commonly uppermost in his mind, hereplied:
"It is no laughing matter, let me tell you, sir; the forty dollars ofbounty and your six months of salary will be much reduced before you canget the matter fairly settled. Assaulting a magistrate in the executionof his duty, and menacing a constable with firearms at the same time,is a pretty serious affair, and is punishable with both fine andimprisonment."
"Imprisonment!" repeated Oliver; "imprison the Leather-Stocking! no, no,sir; it would bring the old man to his grave. They shall never imprisonthe Leather-Stocking."
"Well, Mr. Edwards," said Lippet, dropping all reserve from his manner,"you are called a curious man; but if you can tell me how a jury is tobe prevented from finding a verdict of guilty, if this case comes fairlybefore them, and the proof is clear, I shall acknowledge that youknow more law than I do, who have had a license in my pocket for threeyears."
By this time the reason of Edwards was getting the ascendency of hisfeelings, and, as he began to see the real difficulties of the case,he listened more readily to the conversation of the lawyer. Theungovernable emotion that escaped the youth, in the first moments of hissurprise, entirely passed away; and, although it was still evident thathe continued to be much agitated by what he had heard, he succeeded inyielding forced attention to the advice which the other uttered.
Notwithstanding the confused state of his mind, Oliver soon discoveredthat most of the expedients of the lawyer were grounded in cunning,and plans that required a time to execute them that neither suited hisdisposition nor his necessities. After, however, giving Mr. Lippet tounder stand that he retained him in the event of a trial, an assurancethat at once satisfied the lawyer, they parted, one taking his coursewith a deliberate tread in the direction of the little building thathad a wooden sign over its door, with "Chester Lippet, Attorney-at-law,"painted on it; and the other pacing over the ground with enormousstrides toward the mansion-house. We shall take leave of the attorneyfor the present, and direct the attention of the reader to the client.
When Edwards entered the hall, whose enormous doors were opened to thepassage of the air of a mild evening, he found Benjamin engaged in someof his domestic avocations, and in a hurried voice inquired where JudgeTemple was to be found.
"Why, the Judge has stepped into his office, with that master carpenter,Mister Doolittle; but Miss Lizzy is in that there parlor. I say, MasterOliver, we'd like to have had a bad job of that panther, or painter'swork--some calls it one, and some calls it t'other--but I know littleof the beast, seeing that it is not of British growth. I said as much asthat it was in the hills the last winter for I heard it moaning on thelake shore one evening in the fall, when I was pulling down from thefishing-point in the skiff. Had the animal come into open water, where aman could see where and how to work his vessel, I would have engaged thething myself; but looking aloft among the trees is all the same to me asstanding on the deck of one ship, and looking at another vessel's tops.I never can tell one rope from another--"
"Well, well," interrupted Edwards; "I must see Miss Temple."
"And you shall see her, sir," said the steward; "she's in this hereroom. Lord, Master Edwards, what a loss she'd have been to the Judge!Dam'me if I know where he would have gotten such another daughter; thatis, full grown, d'ye see. I say, sir, this Master Bumppo is a worthyman, and seems to have a handy way with him, with firearms andboat-hooks. I'm his friend, Master Oliver, and he and you may both setme down as the same."
"We may want your friendship, my worthy fellow," cried Edwards,squeezing his hand convulsively; "we may want your friendship, in whichcase you shall know it."
Without waiting to hear the earnest reply that Benjamin meditated, theyouth extricated himself from the vigorous grasp of the steward, andentered the parlor.
Elizabeth was alone, and still reclining on the sofa, where we last lefther. A hand, which exceeded all that the ingenuity of art could model,in shape and color, veiled her eyes; and the maiden was sitting as ifin deep communion with herself. Struck by the attitude and lovelinessof the form that met his eye, the young man checked his impatience, andapproached her with respect and caution.
"Miss Temple--Miss Temple," he said, "I hope I do not intrude; but I amanxious for an interview, if it be only for a moment."
Elizabeth raised her face, and exhibited her dark eyes swimming inmoisture.
"Is it you, Edwards?" she said, with a sweetness in her voice, and asoftness in her air, that she often used to her father, but which, fromits novelty to himself, thrilled on every nerve of the youth; "how leftyou our poor Lou
isa?"
"She is with her father, happy and grateful," said Oliver, "I neverwitnessed more feeling than she manifested, when I ventured to expressmy pleasure at her escape. Miss Temple, when I first heard of yourhorrid situation, my feelings were too powerful for utterance; and I didnot properly find my tongue, until the walk to Mr. Grant's had givenme time to collect myself. I believe--I do believe, I acquitted myselfbetter there, for Miss Grant even wept at my silly speeches." For amoment Elizabeth did not reply, but again veiled her eyes with her hand.The feeling that caused the action, however, soon passed away, and,raising her face again to his gaze, she continued with a smile:
"Your friend, the Leather-Stocking, has now become my friend, Edwards;I have been thinking how I can best serve him; perhaps you, who know hishabits and his wants so well, can tell me----"
"I can," cried the youth, with an impetuosity that startled hiscompanion. "I can, and may Heaven reward you for the wish, Natty hasbeen so imprudent as to for get the law, and has this day killed a deer.Nay, I believe I must share in the crime and the penalty, for I was anaccomplice throughout. A complaint has been made to your father, and hehas granted a search--"
"I know it all," interrupted Elizabeth; "I know it all. The forms of thelaw must be complied with, however; the search must be made, the deerfound, and the penalty paid. But I must retort your own question. Haveyou lived so long in our family not to know us? Look at me, OliverEdwards. Do I appear like one who would permit the man that has justsaved her life to linger in a jail for so small a sum as this fine? No,no, sir; my father is a judge, but he is a man and a Christian. It isall under stood, and no harm shall follow."
"What a load of apprehension do your declarations remove!" exclaimedEdwards: "He shall not be disturbed again! your father will protect him!I have assurance, Miss Temple, that he will, and I must believe it."
"You may have his own, Mr. Edwards," returned Elizabeth, "for here hecomes to make it."
But the appearance of Marmaduke, who entered the apartment, contradictedthe flattering anticipations of his daughter. His brow was contracted,and his manner disturbed. Neither Elizabeth nor the youth spoke; butthe Judge was allowed to pace once or twice across the room withoutinterruption, when he cried:
"Our plans are defeated, girl; the obstinacy of the Leather-Stocking hasbrought down the indignation of the law on his head, and it is now outof my power to avert it."
"How? in what manner?" cried Elizabeth; "the fine is nothing surely--"
"I did not--I could not anticipate that an old, a friendless man likehim, would dare to oppose the officers of justice," interrupted theJudge, "I supposed that he would submit to the search, when the finecould have been paid, and the law would have been appeased; but now hewill have to meet its rigor."
"And what must the punishment be, sir?" asked Ed wards, struggling tospeak with firmness.
Marmaduke turned quickly to the spot where the youth had withdrawn, andexclaimed:
"You here! I did not observe you. I know not what it will be, sir; itis not usual for a judge to decide until he has heard the testimony, andthe jury have convicted. Of one thing, however, you may be assured,Mr. Edwards; it shall be whatever the law demands, notwithstanding anymomentary weakness I may have exhibited, because the luckless man hasbeen of such eminent service to my daughter."
"No one, I believe, doubts the sense of justice which Judge Templeentertains!" returned Edwards bitterly.
"But let us converse calmly, sir. Will not the years, the habits,nay, the ignorance of my old friend, avail him any thing against thischarge?"
"Ought they? They may extenuate, but can they ac quit? Would any societybe tolerable, young man, where the ministers of justice are to beopposed by men armed with rifles? Is it for this that I have tamed thewilder ness?"
"Had you tamed the beasts that so lately threatened the life of MissTemple, sir, your arguments would apply better."
"Edwards!" exclaimed Elizabeth.
"Peace, my child," interrupted the father; "the youth is unjust; but Ihave not given him cause. I overlook thy remark, Oliver, for I knowthee to be the friend of Natty, and zeal in his behalf has overcome thydiscretion."
"Yes, he is my friend," cried Edwards, "and I glory in the title. He issimple, unlettered, even ignorant; prejudiced, perhaps, though I feelthat his opinion of the world is too true; but he has a heart, JudgeTemple, that would atone for a thousand faults; he knows his friends,and never deserts them, even if it be his dog."
"This is a good character, Mr. Edwards," returned Marmaduke, mildly;"but I have never been so fortunate as to secure his esteem, for to mehe has been uniformly repulsive; yet I have endured it, as an old man'swhim, However, when he appears before me, as his judge, he shall findthat his former conduct shall not aggravate, any more than his recentservices shall extenuate, his crime."
"Crime!" echoed Edwards: "is it a crime to drive a prying miscreant fromhis door? Crime! Oh, no, sir; if there be a criminal involved in thisaffair, it is not he."
"And who may it be, sir?" asked Judge Temple, facing the agitated youth,his features settled to their usual composure.
This appeal was more than the young man could bear. Hitherto he hadbeen deeply agitated by his emotions; but now the volcano burst itsboundaries.
"Who! and this to me!" he cried; "ask your own conscience, Judge Temple.Walk to that door, sir, and look out upon the valley, that placid lake,and those dusky mountains, and say to your own heart, if heart you have,whence came these riches, this vale, those hills, and why am I theirowner? I should think, sir, that the appearance of Mohegan and theLeather-Stocking, stalking through the country, impoverished andforlorn, would wither your sight."
Marmaduke heard this burst of passion, at first, with deep amazement;but when the youth had ended, he beckoned to his impatient daughter forsilence, and replied:
"Oliver Edwards, thou forgettest in whose presence thou standest. I haveheard, young man, that thou claimest descent from the native owners ofthe soil; but surely thy education has been given thee to no effect, ifit has not taught thee the validity of the claims that have transferredthe title to the whites. These lands are mine by the very grants ofthy ancestry, if thou art so descended; and I appeal to Heaven for atestimony of the uses I have put them to. After this language, we mustseparate. I have too long sheltered thee in my dwelling; but the timehas arrived when thou must quit it. Come to my office, and I willdischarge the debt I owe thee. Neither shall thy present intemperatelanguage mar thy future fortunes, if thou wilt hearken to the advice ofone who is by many years thy senior."
The ungovernable feeling that caused the violence of the youth hadpassed away, and he stood gazing after the retiring figure of Marmaduke,with a vacancy in his eye that denoted the absence of his mind. Atlength he recollected himself, and, turning his head slowly around theapartment, he beheld Elizabeth, still seated on the sofa, but with herhead dropped on her bosom, and her face again concealed by her hands.
"Miss Temple," he said--all violence had left his manner--"MissTemple--I have forgotten myself--forgotten you. You have heard what yourfather has decreed, and this night I leave here. With you, at least, Iwould part in amity."
Elizabeth slowly raised her face, across which a momentary expressionof sadness stole; but as she left her seat, her dark eyes lighted withtheir usual fire, her cheek flushed to burning, and her whole air seemedto belong to another nature.
"I forgive you, Edwards, and my father will forgive you," she said, whenshe reached the door. "You do not know us, but the time may come whenyour opinions shall change--"
"Of you! never!" interrupted the youth; "I--"
"I would speak, sir, and not listen. There is something in this affairthat I do not comprehend; but tell the Leather-Stocking he has friendsas well as judges in us. Do not let the old man experience unnecessaryuneasiness at this rupture. It is impossible that you could increasehis claims here; neither shall they be diminished by any thing you havesaid. Mr. Edwards, I wish you happiness, and warmer
friends."
The youth would have spoken, but she vanished from the door so rapidly,that when he reached the hall her form was nowhere to be seen. Hepaused a moment, in stupor, and then, rushing from the house, insteadof following Marmaduke in his "office," he took his way directly for thecabin of the hunters.
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