game in the county! But, 'duke, when I fish, I fish, and don't play;—so, away, boys, for another haul, and we'll send out wagons and carts, in the morning, to bring in our prizes!"
Marmaduke appeared to understand that all opposition to the will of the Sheriff would be useless, and he strolled from the fire, to the place where the canoe of the hunters lay, whither the ladies and Oliver Edwards had already preceded him.
Curiosity induced the females to approach this spot, but it surely was a different motive that led the youth thither. Elizabeth examined the light ash timbers and thin bark covering of the canoe, in admiration of its neat but simple execution, and with wonder that any human being could be so daring as to trust his life in so frail a vessel. But the youth explained to her the buoyant properties of the boat, and its perfect safety, when under proper management, adding, in such glowing terms, a description of the manner in which the fish were struck with the spear, that she changed suddenly, from an apprehension of the danger of the excursion, to a desire to participate in its pleasures. She even ventured a proposition to that effect to her father, laughing at the same time, at her own wish, and accusing herself of acting under a woman's caprice.
"Say not so, Bess," returned the Judge; "I would have you above the idle fears of a silly girl. These canoes are the safest kind of boats, to those who have skill and steady nerves. I have crossed the broadest part of the Oneida in one much smaller than this."
"And I the Ontary," interrupted the Leather-stocking; "and that with squaws in the canoe, too. But the Delaware women be used to the paddle
