James Fenimore Cooper

“ When a woman really loves, Anneke, it is vain to struggle against anything but positive unworthiness, I fear. Poor Guert was not unworthy in any sense; he was erring and impulsive, but not unworthy. No—no—not unworthy! I ought to have given him my hand, and he would have been spared to us. As it is, I can only live his widow in secret, and in love. You have done well, dearest Anneke, in being so frank with Corny Littlepage, and in avowing that preference which you have felt almost from the first day of your acquaintance. ”

“ The lady you love, loves you, and she does not love you; she will have you, and she won't have you; she thinks yes, and she says no.”
Guert now trembled all over, like an aspen-leaf.
“I do not believe there is any harm, Corny, in asking whether I gained or lost by the affair of the river? I will ask her that much, of a certainty. Tell me, Mother, am I better or worse, for a certain thing that happened about a month ago—about the time that the ice went, and that we had a great freshet?”
“Guert Ten Eyck, why do you try me thus?” demanded the fortune-teller, solemnly. ”

“ It was the sleigh of Herman Mordaunt, empty; with the horses, maddened by terror, running wherever their fears impelled. As the sleigh passed, it was thrown on one side; then it was once more whirled up again; and it went out of sight, with the rumbling sound of the runners mingling with the jingling of bells and the tramp of hoofs.
At this instant a loud, distant cry from a human voice, was certainly heard. It seemed, to me, as if some one called my name; and Anneke said, she so understood it, too. ”

“ It was a most painful moment to me, when Herman Mordaunt, an hour after all these facts were established, came to summon me to the presence of Anneke and Mary Wallace. One gleam of joy, one ray of the sunshine of the heart, shone on Anneke's sweet countenance as she saw me unharmed enter the room, but it quickly disappeared in the strong sympathy she felt for the sufferings of her friend. As for Mary Wallace, death itself could hardly have left her more colourless, or with features more firmly impressed with the expression of mental suffering. ”

“ In this style, then, we dashed from the door of the old Ten Eyck-house; all the blacks in the street gazing at us in delight, and shaking their sides with laughter—a negro always expressing his admiration of anything, even to a sermon, in that mode. I remember to have heard a traveller who had been as far as Niagara, declare that his black did nothing but roar with laughter, the first half-hour he stood confronted with that mighty cataract.
Nor did the blacks alone stop to admire Guert Ten Eyck, his sleigh and his horses. ”

“ There will be no longer any coyness, any hesitation, any misgivings, when you shall be once restored to us.”
“Mr. Littlepage, you would not trifle with the feelings of a miserable captive, hanging between torture and death, is my present case! I can hardly credit my senses; yet, you would not mock me!”
“Believe all I say—nay, all you wish, Guert. It is seldom that woman loves as she loves, and this I swear to you. I go now, only to aid Herman Mordaunt in bringing you where your own ears shall hear such proofs of what I say, as have been uttered in mine.” ”

“ Nobody was drowned in the place; for it is not usual for the people of these colonies to remain in their beds, at such times, to await the appearance of the enemy in at their windows. We often read of such accidents destroying hundreds in the Old World; but, in the New, human life is of too much account to be unnecessarily thrown away, and so we make some efforts to preserve it.
As we drove into the street in which Herman Mordaunt lived, we heard a shout, and turning our heads, we saw Guert Ten Eyck waving his cap to us, with joy delineated in every feature of his handsome face. ”

“ Anneke seemed thoughtful, and it struck me she was a little distressed.
“What can I do to alter this?” she said, after a short pause. “A woman's judgment and her feelings may not impel her the same way; then Mary Wallace is a girl who appreciates propriety so highly!”
“I understand you, Anneke. But, Guert is of so noble a disposition, and acknowledges all his defects so meekly, and with so much candour! Man cannot love woman better than he loves Mary Wallace. Her extreme prudence is a virtue, in his eyes, even while he suffers by it.” ”

“ I took the seat, and Bulstrode went on.
“It was the river that made your fortune, Corny, and undid me.”
I smiled, but said nothing; though I knew better.
“There is a fate in love, as in war. Well, I am as well off as Abercrombie; we both expected to be victorious, while each is conquered. I am more fortunate, indeed; for he can never expect to get another army, while I may get another wife. I wish you would be frank with me, and confess to what you particularly ascribe your own success.” ”

“ The man who loves, and loves truly, should not long permit its object to remain in any doubt of his feelings and intentions. It has ever appeared to me, Miss Mordaunt, as a most base and dastardly feeling in a man to wish to be certain of a woman's returning his love, before he has the manliness to let his mistress understand his wishes. How is a sensitive female to know when she is safe in yielding her affections, without this frankness on the part of her suitor? I'll answer for it that Guert Ten Eyck has dealt thus honestly and frankly with Mary Wallace. ”

“ The ladies wore light beavers, suited to their sex; there being little occasion for any shade for the face, under the dense canopies of the forest. Veils of green, however, were added, as the customary American protection for the sex. Anneke and Mary travelled in habits, made of light woman's cloth, and in a manner to fit their exquisite forms like gloves. The skirts were short, to enable them to walk with ease, in the event of being compelled to go a-foot. A feather or two, in each hat, had not been forgotten—the offering of the natural propensity of their sex, to please the eyes of men. ”

“ Had not Sir Harry authorized my own proposals, where should I have been? Not a farthing of settlement could I have offered, while he remained Sir Harry; notwithstanding I had the prodigious advantage of the entail. I can tell you what it is, Corny; the existing power is always an important power since we all think more of the present time, than of the future. That is the reason so few of us get to Heaven. As for Herman Mordaunt, I deem it no more than fair to tell you, he is on my side, heart and hand. He likes my offers of settlement; he likes my family; he likes my rank, civil and military ”

“ I certainly heard the bells of a sleigh; at first they seemed distant and broken—then, nearer and incessant, attended by the rumbling of runners on the ice. I took off my cap and pressed my head, for I feared my brain was unsettled. There it came, however, more and more distinctly, until the trampling of horses' hoofs mingled in the noise.
“Can there be others as unhappy as ourselves!” exclaimed Anneke, forgetting her own fears in generous sympathy. “See, Littlepage!—see, dear Cornelius—yonder surely comes another sleigh!” ”

“ Guert expressed his astonishment that any one should not always be glad and willing to receive his friends; and insisted on it, that no such inhospitable customs could exist. I knew, however, that society could not exist on the same terms, in old and in new countries—among a people that was pressed upon by numbers, and a people that had not yet felt the evils of a superabundant population. ”

“ Unless Anneke Mordaunt consent to be your daughter, you will never have one.”
“Do not say that, Corny, I beseech you,” cried my mother, a good deal frightened. “Remember there is no accounting for tastes; the army is a formidable rival, and, after all, this Mr. Bulstrode, I think you call him, may prove as acceptable to Anneke as to her father. Do not say so cruel a thing, I entreat of you, dearest, dearest, Corny.” ”

“ It was all that was left of his fine person, his high spirit, his lion-hearted courage, his buoyant spirits, and his unextinguishable love of frolic. A finer physical man I never beheld, or one who better satisfied the eye, in all respects. That the noble tenement was not more intellectually occupied, was purely the consequence of a want of education. Notwithstanding, all the books in the world could not have converted Guert Ten Eyck into a Jason Newcome, or Jason Newcome into a Guert Ten Eyck. ”

“ Anneke inquired, with an archness of eye and voice, that sent the blood to my own face, in confusion. “They say, that fortune-tellers send all prudent, yet careless housewives, to the sweetmeat-pots, to look for the lost spoons! Many have been found, I hear, by this wonderful prescience.”
“Well, Miss Anneke, I see, you have no faith,” answered Guert, fidgeting; “and people who have no faith, never believe. Notwithstanding, I put so much confidence in what Doortje has told me, that I intend to follow her advice let matters turn out as they may.” ”

“ I am sure I want no more trouble, as it is, than to find Mary Wallace so undetermined about having me!”
“Then you do not mean to go, after all! I am not only ready, but anxious to accompany you.”
“You mistake me, Corny. Go I will, now, though she tell me that which will cause me to cut my throat—but, we must not go as we are; we must disguise ourselves, in order that she may not know us. Everybody goes disguised; and then they have an opportunity of learning if she is in a good vein, or not, by seeing if she can tell anything about their business, or habits, in the first place. ”

“ Men never wear the mask more completely than when excited and stimulated by the rivalry of arms. Bulstrode, too, at Ravensnest! He could be carried nowhere else, so easily; and, should his wound be of a nature that did not require constant medical treatment, where could he be so happily bestowed as under the roof of Herman Mordaunt? Shall I confess that the idea gave me great pain, and that I was fool enough to wish I, too, could return to Anneke, and appeal to her sympathies, by dragging with me a wounded limb! ”

“ By a square in a town, one does not necessarily understand an area with four equal sides and as many right angles, but an open space that is left for air and beauty. There are air and beauty enough to satisfy any reasonable man. A square may be a parallelogram, or a triangle, or any other shape one pleases.”
“This, then, is Hanover Square!—a New York square, or a Nassau Hall square, Corny; but not a Yale College square, take my word for it. ”

“ I see nothing of Traverse and his chain-bearers, nor of Sam or Tom, your hunters! Surely, they are not left behind in the forest?”
Neither of us three spoke. Our looks must have told the sad story, for Herman Mordaunt seemed to understand us on the instant.
“No!” he exclaimed—“Can it be possible? Not all, surely!”
“All, Mr. Mordaunt, even to my poor slave, Petrus,” answered Guert, solemnly. “They were set upon, while dispersed, I suppose, and have been murdered, while we were still absent, on our expedition.” ”

“ Bulstrode; I am no wrangler, to quarrel with a shadow; and, I trust, not in the least, that most contemptible of all human beings, a social bully, to be on all occasions menacing the sword or the pistol. Such men usually do nothing, when matters come to a crisis. Even when they fight, they fight bunglingly, and innocently.”
“You are right, Littlepage, and I honour your sentiments. I have remarked that the most expert swordsman with his tongue, and the deadest shot at a shingle, are commonly as innocent as lambs of the shedding of blood on the ground. ”

“ Several times did it appear, to us, that our island was on the point of touching the fastened cake, and as often did it incline aside; at no time coming nearer than within six or eight feet. This distance it would have been easy enough, for me to leap across, but, to Anneke, it was a barrier as impassable as the illimitable void. The sweet girl saw this; and, she acted like herself, under the circumstances. She took my hand, pressed it, and said earnestly, and with patient sweetness—
“You see how it is, Corny; I am not permitted to escape; but you can easily reach the shore. ”

“ But even the most intellectual and refined women, I have since had occasion to learn, feel a disposition to judge handsome, manly, frank, flighty fellows like my new acquaintance, somewhat leniently. With all his levity, and his disposition to run into the excesses of animal spirits, there was that about Guert which rendered it difficult to despise him. The courage of a lion was in his eye, and his front and bearing were precisely those that are particularly attractive to women. ”

“ I saw by the expression of Guert's countenance, as I raised him in my arms, that the blow was fatal. The ball, indeed, had passed directly through his body, missing the bones, but injuring the vitals. There is no mistaking the expression of a death-wound on the human countenance, when the effect is direct and not remote. Nature appears to admonish the victim of his fate. So it was with Guert.
“This shot has done for me, Corny,” he said, “and it seems to be the very last they intended to fire. I almost hope there can be no truth in what you told me of Mary Wallace!” ”

“ When such words are accompanied by looks and acts that prove their sincerity, it is not easy to tear ourselves away from a pleasant house. We chatted on, laughed, listened to stories and colony anecdotes that carried us back to the last war, and heard a great many eulogiums on beaux and belles, that we young people had, all our lives, considered as respectable, elderly, commonplace sort of persons. ”

“ Corny, I never thought of that! But, you have been college-taught; and a thousand things are picked up at colleges, that one never dreams of at an academy. I see reason, every day, to lament my idleness when a boy; and fortunate shall I be, if I do not lament it all my life.”
Poor Guert! ”

“ But youth is the season of folly, and happy is the man who can say he has never trifled more seriously with the feelings of a parent. I was soon pardoned—what offence would not that devoted mother have pardoned her only child!—when I was made to relate all that was proper to be told, of what had passed between Anneke and myself. It is scarcely necessary to say, I was assured of the cheerful acquiescence in my wishes, of all my own family, from Capt. Hugh Roger, down to the dear person who was speaking. ”

“ The savages went leaping and whooping forward in the darkness, and heavy blows were given and taken. Guert's clear, manly voice was heard, rising above the clamour, encouraging his companions to press through the throng of their assailants, in tones full of confidence. Both the Trackless and myself discharged our rifles at the foremost of the Hurons, and each certainly brought down his man; but it was not easy to see what we could do next. To stand aloof and see my friends borne down by numbers was impossible, however, and Susquesus and myself fell upon the enemy's rear. ”

“ Poor Guert!—How true that was, and what an influence the opinion had on his character and habits. As for the Indian, I could not judge him so harshly. There was something in his countenance that disposed me to put confidence in him, at the very moment his cold, abstracted manners—cold and abstracted even for a red-skin in pale-face company—created doubts and distrust.
“Certainly, nothing is easier than for a man in his situation to sell us,” I answered, after a short pause, “if he be so disposed. ”