Chapter 8 - Page 2

either, Judith and her sister busying
themselves in making the preparations for the morning meal, as they
who habitually attend to such matters toil on mechanically even
in the midst of suffering and sorrow. The plain but nutritious
breakfast was taken by all three in sombre silence. The girls
ate little, but Deerslayer gave proof of possessing one material
requisite of a good soldier, that of preserving his appetite in
the midst of the most alarming and embarrassing circumstances. The
meal was nearly ended before a syllable was uttered; then, however,
Judith spoke in the convulsive and hurried manner in which feeling
breaks through restraint, after the latter has become more painful
than even the betrayal of emotion.

"Father would have relished this fish," she exclaimed; "he says the
salmon of the lakes is almost as good as the salmon of the sea."

"Your father has been acquainted with the sea, they tell me, Judith,"
returned the young man, who could not forbear throwing a glance of
inquiry at the girl; for in common with all who knew Hutter, he had
some curiosity on the subject of his early history. "Hurry Harry
tells me he was once a sailor."

Judith first looked perplexed; then, influenced by feelings that
were novel to her, in more ways than one, she became suddenly
communicative, and seemingly much interested in the discourse.

"If Hurry knows anything of father's history, I would he had told
it to me!" she cried. "Sometimes I think, too, he was once a sailor,
and then again I think he was not. If that chest were open, or if
it could speak, it might let us into his whole history. But its
fastenings are too strong to be broken like pack thread."

Deerslayer turned to the chest in question, and for the first time
examined it closely. Although discolored, and bearing proofs of
having received much ill-treatment, he saw that it was of materials
and workmanship altogether superior to anything of the same sort
he had ever before beheld. The wood was dark, rich, and had once
been highly polished, though the treatment it had received left
little gloss on its surface, and various scratches and indentations
proved the rough collisions that it had encountered with substances
still harder than itself. The corners were firmly bound with
steel, elaborately and richly wrought, while the locks, of which
it had no less than three, and the hinges, were of a fashion and
workmanship that would have attracted attention even in a warehouse
of curious furniture. This chest was quite large; and when Deerslayer
arose, and endeavored to raise an end by its massive handle, he
found that the weight fully corresponded with the external appearance.